If You Don’t Fail, You Don’t Graduate - The Future of Failure
I want you to sing along with me. You know the tune...
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Now that we’ve all taken a trip back to the nap-time days of kindergarten, I want to share a story.
There are two kindergarten students in the world right now reciting these ABCs and singing this song. One will sing beautifully and pass. One will throw a vowel out of place and fail. Little will change and the two students will go back to playing Lincoln Logs and building castles.
Learning still has an element of play at this age. And failure...who cares? Give me back my play-doh. MMMMMmmm, cotton candy for lunch!
Add in a few more bus rides and spelling tests and failure is no longer fun. A third grader who fails a math test at age twenty will say, “I’m not very good at math...” Even at this young age, these learning models impress upon our self-efficacy. We have these inner dialogues telling us who we are based on what we passed and what we failed. You can’t get more self-limiting than that.
But, what if we change some things around? What if we create a learning place that focuses on failure as a good thing? What if we demand that failure be on the road to success?
Right now, the traditional brick and mortar school system and standardized tests make failure a bad thing. A no-no. Nothing worth hanging on the refrigerator to impress mommy and daddy.
Let’s make it backwards. Instead of having a system that makes students afraid of failure, let’s make it so students are afraid not to fail. If you don’t fail, you don’t graduate.
The Connected Student
Back in college, I often found myself wander into the corner of the library to watch old anthropology films and read of indigenous tribes - strange traditions, wacky culture, and myths. From there, my obsession with "the other" began.Differences always fascinated me and perhaps it fascinates you, whether that fascination be fear, curiosity, or love.
My research always brought the same answer - "the other" is not much different than "me".
Enter email, text messaging, Facebook, and the open structure of Twitter. The possibility of meaningful connections now are more ubiquitous than ever, but are they happening? Or is there just more chatter?
Imagine a world where students talk, share, and listen to each other. Imagine a world where the walls of "the other" get broken down by a #hashtag, not a missile.
Padpals for Peace?
Fair Warning: I get kind of serious in this one…
"Insert Global Face Here"
I picture a world where students collaborate internationally, meeting in a digital forum and using telepresence to create class projects. Pretty cool stuff. But, can there be a deeper incentive to promote this type of blended learning environment? Can a school system that focuses on international pad-pal study-abroad-esque collaboration be the momentum to promote global empathy?
Bear with me. Let's have fun with this thought. And, please, join in the conversation below by adding a comment.
Practical Project with Prezi
Hand students a tablet (i.e. 35$ from Datalink) with broadband connection and a project (i.e. history of World War II). Have students link with other students from other countries to create a Prezi to then bring home to the local school building and present to a local class.
Theory - Debunking the "other"
We all fear the unknown. Ask Daniel Goleman and he'll speak a book to you about it. The unknown equals fear and the lizard brain (coined by Godin) fights or flees from fear.
Sometimes to get over this fear, we just have to meet the other. Soldiers joined the military to find a new group of teammates from all different colors and backgrounds. Students migrate to a college campus and are awash in the eclectic mix of collegians. Anyone who travels experiences culture shock at first, then relaxes after normal gets redefined.
The digital learning environment acts as a bridge to cross social barriers that can otherwise hinder a student from seeing and interacting with another. A class project acts as a force to forget about race, class, religion, or even gender. A class project promotes teamwork that will last longer than the due date.