The Mirror

“Those who stress the importance of failure as part of the innovation process tend to focus on failure.” This is not healthy and not where the focus should be. Failure is not the goal, however “having the freedom to fail is important to innovation.” Couros recognizes that failure is indeed a natural part of learning, but it’s not the actual failure that should be the focus, but rather the license to fail that should be encouraged. Giving our teachers this ability to feel comfortable taking risks with their lessons, to know that we support them in taking these risks, and to encourage them to engage in creative activities, that while those lessons may fail it could also enliven the learning process  and inevitably allow the teacher to run their classrooms in a direction that will spark innovation through focusing on the art of questioning, rather than answering.

From the moment teachers enter formal education, they are encouraged to teach students how to succeed. Everything that is done in the classroom is done with the hope that it will contribute to a student’s ultimate success. Students are taught the rules, expectations, and ideas that they are expected to know in order to be successful in the world. Teachers are encouraged to do whatever it takes to ensure that their students do not fail to learn what they have taught in the classroom, as well as support them in making as few mistakes as possible.

Although we do want our students to be successful, the pressure that is put on this success can often distract from the encouragement our staff may need to create lessons that push their students to think creatively, explore their possibilities, and maybe even get a little messy along the way. Learning does not occur in perfectly packaged environments where all students are listening and quiet and doing as they are told. Learning is an experience that happens through trial and error and through that process, can indeed, spark innovation.

What if lessons were designed in a way that students learned, alongside their teacher, that mistakes and misconceptions are not actually their failures or inabilities to understand or master material, but rather opportunities to begin to ask questions of oneself?  What if failure was viewed as being one step closer to success? What if we focused less on teaching our students everything they are expected to know but rather taught them how to become proficient questioners of any and all learning they encounter? What if our students were capable of seeing that simply coming up with an answer did not mean the problem was solved, but rather that the learning had just begun?       

“School should not be a place where answers go to die, but where questions come to life.” Couros speaks passionately about the art of questioning, but also recognizes that we learn to question by first establishing and understanding how grit and resiliency allows us to recover from our own perceived failures. When we learn to rise above our challenges, we begin to question what led to those mistakes in the first place and how we can correct them in the future. This type of thinking can lead our students towards establishing an Innovator’s Mindset where students have the chance to focus their efforts on creating, understanding, and innovating, where their learning  can be molded around these processes rather than being told what they are expected to learn. In these classrooms, our teachers require the support to allow their students to learn in an unrestricted environment where they can develop authentic conceptions of information that are not based on a pre-prescribed learning outcome, but rather on that real, authentic learning.

How can teachers foster this type of innovative thinking in their students? How can a site leader inspire, support and encourage our  teachers to attempt to completely change the way their classrooms look and feel, as well as the types of learning they produce?  How can we influence our teachers to take that first initial step to begin to focus more on questioning than answering, while still contributing to a student’s ultimate success?

Maker movements, STEAM labs, inquiry-based approaches, problem-based learning and other instructional approaches that relinquish control from the classroom teacher can not be successful without that idea in mind that yes, this too, could possibly fail. But what if that process of taking risks, failing, and learning from that failure created a symbiotic relationship of learning between teacher and student where the learning is happening together? What if the road to success in one class looks different in another class because the paths taken are different and therefore the learning that occurs is also different? What if this messy path to success creates a relationship between teacher and student where they are authentically learning together through every mistake they make, every question they ask, and every idea sparks curiosity towards a new one?

Yes, this is risky and there are no guarantees that this will work out perfectly.  Mistakes are bound to be made, but Couros encourages us, the leaders in this process of learning, to recognize that “Our job, sometimes, is simply to be the spark, help build confidence, and then get out of the way.” When we model for students, through looking into a mirror and reflecting on our mistakes, we help them seek those answers from within themselves rather than from us.  If we all fail together, we can grow together by trying again tomorrow, but this time with new and different inspiration.