Of all the IB Learner Profile traits, I think our students (in the secondary school, at least) have the firmest grip on Risk Taker. As teenagers, when social status means everything, our students can clearly envision what it means to take risks in front of their peers. The risk? Well, humiliation if you really must know. When participating in class carries the added burden of performing for your peer group, the idea of being a Risk Taker doesn’t need to be clarified by the teacher.
But do we ask our students to be risk takers because we hope they’ll succeed? Or even worse, do we assume they’ll succeed?
On the other hand, and as the New York Times asked in a recent article, what if the secret to success is failure?
This is a provocative article that has been the subject of much discussion among teachers, parents, and students around the world. [Read it here.] If I may boil this rather long piece down to its core, the author poses some very difficult (but essential, I think) questions about how children are educated and what this means for their future. And it comes down to two main ingredients, intellect and character.
Possessing a keen intellect is wonderful, but if it means that school comes easily and that challenge and obstacles are scarce, will a student have the grit to push through when the going gets tough? Evidence presented in the article suggests no. In fact, it suggests that intangibles like work ethic, optimism, and curiosity will win the day long after the smart kids have packed up their tents and gone home. Students who have confronted failure, who have faced down scary challenges, are more prepared for the road ahead, the author believes, and this makes them more likely to finish a four-year degree at university and move on to big things.
Right on cue, Wired Magazine just ran a column about the psychological process of accepting defeat and learning from it. And really, isn’t this what we’ve always told our kids? “Making mistakes isn’t important. It’s learning from them.” Or some variation on that. But I think we’ve moved away from that, at least in the Western world, where kids are expected to achieve mastery at first stroke.
This Wired article (read it here) is a really fascinating exploration of how scientists cope with failure, but if you don’t have time or the inclination to read the whole thing, scroll down about a third of the way to the graphic titled, “How to Learn from Failure.” These are four basic, easily digestible tips that we can communicate to the children. Mistakes aren’t simply a part of being human, they’re an essential part of being human.
I believe this is a discussion we should all be having with the students and among ourselves. The more we encourage the kids to jump right in (and the more we jump in ourselves) the more we can foster an environment where mistakes are not regarded as something to be quickly pushed aside in place of perfection, but rather an important component of growing up and becoming an independent, critical contributor to society.