CPD from SLT

CPD from SLT - Failure - your route to success from Ken Winstanley

Disappointment, sadness, upset, all emotions associated with failure and yet failure is something that when embraced and accepted can make us stronger and help us grow.

Norman Larson back in 1953 was working for the Rocket Chemical Company and working on a formula for a new chemical water dispersant which would protect metal from rust and corrosion. After multiple failures, his 40th attempt proved successful and so was born water dispersant 40 or WD40 as it is now known.

It would have been easy for Norman to quit trying, but each failure allowed him to understand the problem a little better and even though it took nearly two years to succeed, he eventually found the formula that worked. What Norman shows us is that without failure you can’t have success. How do we know anything without all the wrong possibilities being investigated first.

This positive or growth mind set is a powerful one for the children we teach. Let them embrace being wrong, accept they have failed at a task, a question or even an exam. The important aspect is for them to consider what they have learnt from the experience and use it to be better at their next attempt.

As teachers we are able to control the message of failure and provide the support and scaffolding to the pupils to prop them up. Think about this scenario. You have given a class test and one of your pupils scores the lowest in the class of 32%, how do we handle this? How can we look at the positives, is the only way up from here? What mistakes did they make and how can we highlight them so that on the next test they avoid the mistakes? By supporting the pupils we can show them how we learn by failing and making mistakes. As teachers we would find most pupils need a lot of work in the first instance, but by being consistent, supportive and kind, we will change the pupils mind set.

The idea of developing a positive mind set in pupils became popular after Carol Dweck published her 2006 book, Mindset - The Psychology of Success. In pupils the idea of a positive mindset allows the pupil to face adversity head on, and to accept that hard work and effort is needed to succeed. In short, don’t give up.

Along the way there will be hurdles and setbacks but by being focused on achievement it doesn’t mean you can’t do something, it means you just can’t do it yet.

In the next full edition I will include some strategies to implement this along with some practical tips.