Issues at stake: Failure is fundamental to the learning process

THE media and sundry commercial outlets have pummeled the ‘back-to-school’ drum relentlessly over the past weeks, berating dismal Matric results, the dire state of schools bereft of desks, teachers and a culture of learning.

What important, lasting message does one convey to the Class of 2020 (will they have perfect vision?) that will carry them optimistically forward on their march to success?

A fundamental premise that all parents would do well to appreciate is that education is a process of gradual development of cognitive abilities, the skills of social interaction and a system of values.

There are no quick fixes in education and because it involves daily interaction with young people at the most volatile period of their lives, there are very few, if any, guaranteed and certain outcomes.

Unlike the production or assembly line of an industrial operation, the routine, repetitive treatment and shaping of the ‘raw material’ in a school context does not presume a specific outcome.

The most gifted intellectual will battle with the baffling intricacies of Euclidean geometry or calculus at some stage and miss that vital ‘A’ symbol in a class test; the highly talented sportsman will drop that crucial match-winning catch in the slips; the social role model may be found ‘dragging on a smoke’ behind the school hall in a moment of indiscretion.

Not a bad thing

Truth be told, these moments of ‘failure’ are fundamental to the learning process and instrumental to the development of success and personal growth.

As parents, our natural instinct is to protect our children from harm, disappointment and failure but doing so is not always in our kids’ best interests.

Allowing our kids to feel pain and disappointment is not always a bad thing. Rather than trying to rescue them when they fail, or worse yet, protecting them from failing in the first place, parents and teachers can use these experiences as learning opportunities to cope with life’s challenges.

Learning from mistakes (the kind that occur when parents don’t interfere) is an important skill – one that helps to build resilience and mature into confident, happy and successful adults.

Sitting back and letting our kids make mistakes is not easy.

For many parents, failure is not an option. Our instinct is to jump in and rescue them when things go wrong.

If our child gets a bad test result, we immediately phone the teacher, complaining that the material has not being taught properly.

If our child doesn’t get enough playing time in a sports match, we question the coach about the fairness of his decision.

Parents, educationists and students would do well to acknowledge the crucial role that failure plays in building resilience and equipping our children with the ability and confidence of dealing with the adversity and challenges that constitute human existence.