Over the past five years I’ve seen a big change in the attitudes students have with failure and failing. Today’s ponder is going to try to make sense of what the change is, why that is, and consider what we can do about it.
I first started lecturing back in 2017. Most of the classes I taught at the time were part of the HNC (Higher National Certificate) acting and performance. We had two cohorts of fifteen students in each class. Although there was no real science in deciding what students went into what class, there was a clear energy that each class presented; one being generally shy and eager to learn, the other energised and confident in their learning. Both classes – generally speaking – had a fear of failing. Especially failing assessments. For those of you that are not aware, with the HNC (and indeed other qualifications with Scottish Qualifications Authority SQA) students are allowed two attempts for every assessment. Therefore, if a student does bomb their first attempt, they will get feedback and feedforward to enable them to pass on a second attempt. After a second attempt, they would fail the learning outcome and subsequently, the module. Even with these multiple attempt approach in place, students were being controlled by fear – the fear of failing.
My thoughts are split 50/50 on this one. I think about my current learning journey (I’m currently doing a post grad qualification) and of course I don’t want to fail, just like the students. But I am also not envisaging failure. Could this be a difference? I’ll come back to this later. The other side of me actively encourages failure. As they say it’s the First Attempt In Learning. F.A.I.L.
Now five years on, there is a clear shift with the student mindset. To clarify I’m making generalisations here from experience, and absolutely acknowledge that this is not every student. But the truth is the number of students who are being affected by fear and failure is increasing. With half of a class not showing up for assessments, is fear still the driving force? Or is it some form of expectation they have set for themselves as a form of self-preservation? What I mean is, has failure become the ‘failsafe’? Have students set their expectations of themselves low intentionally so as not to be disappointed? A mindset of ‘well if I don’t try, then I can’t fail.’ But you can, and with that attitude, sadly, more than likely will.
I don’t want that for them. Any of them. I want them to be able to see what I see.
Thinking of the reasons of why students fail, I’ve narrowed it down to these main reasons,
- Lack of confidence/belief – they think they are not able to pass, so don’t try.
- Lack of preparation – similar to the above, whether it’s not managing time, or not engaging with the self-directed work, they will then avoid the assessment. Again, a case of I’m not ready to pass and I’m not comfortable enough in myself to try.
- Fear of embarrassment – could it be that the student has done the preparation, but is so scared to get it wrong, they avoid it altogether? A form of self-sabotage in a way, which is not always a conscious decision.
- Lack of interest – is it that they have signed up to do something, but along the way realised it’s not for them? Rather than admit that which is absolutely fine to do, they detach from the reality of the assessments?
- Capacity – There are extenuating factors that they are dealing with that is monopolising their mental capacity and therefore they can’t engage. This extends to the impacts from mental health.
There are of course many other reasons that could be at play. However, the primary observation I’ve made is that the students won’t talk about what’s going on. My opinions on this.
- A problem shared is a problem halved.
- If you don’t tell people what is going on, no one knows you need help. I’m not saying tell people your life story, but at least let them in a little.
- Be accountable and honest, both with yourself and those around you. If you haven’t done the work, admit to that. Own that decision, it’s the one you’ve made, now learn from it.
- If you are struggling, take the help that is offered to you. It’s all well and good everyone trying to help you, but you need to try to help yourself too.
Failure has become a dirty word over the years, and yet it is one of the most human responses we have. Think of when a toddler is learning to walk. They don’t give it one shot, then decide it’s never going to happen. They stand, they wobble, they fall. They repeat. They stand, they wobble, they regain balance, they stand. They lean forward, they fall. It goes on and on, but at the end of it all, they learn to walk. They don’t give up. All through your childhood, you have tried to learn things, made mistakes, failed, then learned the thing. Fundamentally, it’s how we learn. Now as that same person who learned to walk, you can learn something again.
So, readers, let’s work towards not accepting failure the failsafe. Let’s not accept it as a given, and let’s work at being honest with ourselves. Speak up when something isn’t working, and not to admit defeat before the first try. Afterall, it is not the failure that’s important, but rather what you do next.
This has been a SmartPonders.
Thanks for reading!
Steph x
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