Failure is the First Step

“Trying is the first step towards failure.” 

– Homer Simpson

It’s a funny line, so typical of Homer’s ridiculously cynical world view. But, it’s an attitude that pops up in the classroom. Sometimes kids don’t want to try something new because they’re afraid they won’t understand it or they’ll fail the test on the new topic.

If you think about it, it kinda makes sense but it is a completely limiting mind set. It’s as if the student is saying:

“I know this stuff really well and everyone thinks I’m really smart, so I’ll just keep doing this stuff. If I try something new, I might not ‘get it,’ and then everyone will know that I’m not as smart as they thought I was.”

I know it sounds a little convoluted, but if you think of it from that student's perspective, you can at least understand where he/she is coming from.

But whether conscious or unconscious, this way of thinking is the antithesis of education. Nobody understands everything all the time. 

Failure is a central part of learning and everyone should feel comfortable with initial failure. It’s how you identify what you need to work on.

When I was studying for my MTEL exams to become a teacher, the first thing I did was to do a sample test. Then, when I scored it, I could identify the areas I needed to review and study. If I’d been all embarrassed about doing poorly on parts of it, I’d have never learned what I needed to learn.

I think Homer has it exactly wrong. He should be saying:

“Failure is the first step towards success.”