Cycle One: Interpretations of the meaning and causes of failure

When I think of the meanings and causes of failure, my head begins to spin. There are so many factors, so many direct & indirect components, and just…so…much! Where do I begin? I for one am not a fan of failing anything (as a matter of fact, I don’t know anyone who is). The thought of failing stirs up all kinds of negative emotions, and comparative insecurities. I sometimes find myself going above and beyond the standard because I’ll aim to be the best, but I absolutely refuse to be at the bottom. It’s like running a marathon; I don’t always have to get the first place trophy. However, as long as I don’t finish last I know I’m alright. I think the degree of failure is determined by the individual. For some, finishing last in the marathon would be perfectly fine as long as they finish. Even though that last person is the one everyone would compare themselves to with thoughts of “at least I wasn’t last” or “I did much better than so and so”, if the person doesn’t feel like they failed…then who can dare say any different? I think failure is determined by many dynamics and is somewhat subject to perspective.  

I had a student (for sake of privacy we’ll call *Kevin) that was “failing”. He was a first grader, and he had experienced so many failures that you could smell his frustration 15 feet away. He was discouraged. He didn’t understand many concepts, and he didn’t expect to understand them. He didn’t ask questions, he misbehaved, and even his family had somewhat given up on him. It was almost as if they had labeled him “slow” instead of diving in to determine how they could help him learn. One of the saddest parts was the fact that his peers didn’t expect much of him either. I get emotional thinking about it because not only was he trapped in his position, but I couldn’t think of a sure solution. As his teacher what could I do? My goal and project became helping him get beyond where he was. Working with him I learned that his past had taught him a defense mechanism coined learned helplessness. In reading, Why Are Our Children Failing in School learned helplessness is described as a conditional response to failures they experienced in the past. He wouldn’t try some tasks because he would say, “I don’t know how” before he would even try. In his case, he had taken his failures to heart. He was the type of person to recognize he was finishing last in the marathon and stop running. Finishing wouldn’t be that important to him because he wasn’t doing well anyway.

Who’s at fault for students failing anyhow? This is a conversation that I have heard far too many times. Is it the fault of the teacher, parent, or student…or is it mixture of them all? Administrators are taught to hold their teachers accountable for student achievement and use examples of successful teachers in the past, students are sometimes excused from achievement because they should have more support than they do, and lastly parents are excused because they are education professionals and they are unaware of the “how-to”. It is absolutely ridiculous to even attempt to blame one of these people in practically all cases. What about factors like mental disabilities, chemistry with the teacher, or mere interest? It’s amazing watching an otherwise “lazy” child light up when I introduce a hands-on activity. They want to learn. They want to participate. They want to feel the experience. If they can get that involved in a learning experience that interests them, just imagine the possibilities that can be revamped to be more interesting...but that doesn't solve the problem for all students. I read an article that claimed student motivation is entirely the responsibility of the teacher. Its scary to think that some people actually feel this way. Honestly, I don't think you can attribute failure to just one cause.

A disturbing realization that I have come to is that labeling failure as often as people do is an extremely inaccurate descriptor for the issues they are attempting to address. In the article entitled Lazy--or Not?, Dawson suggests that laziness is caused by a lack of executive skills. However, my issue is trying to figure out where and when these executive skills should have been obtained. It can point to the parents who would then point back to the teachers for not picking up in the areas where they have dropped the ball...and the cycle of blame continues. Working with Kevin taught me in some instances failure is a matter of priority. As I got to know him and learned of his house burning down, mother’s drug abuse, foster care situation, and other weaknesses I understood why my board work wasn’t his first priority the first thing in the morning. As a teacher I was held accountable by my district for him not being successful, and all of the contributing factors didn’t matter to anyone else but me. Standardized test scores didn’t have a side note that explained he lost everything he had the month before, they didn’t have a side note that explained how displaced he felt with his foster mother, it didn’t explain how he missed practically 5 months of Kindergarten the year before because his mother sometimes didn’t bring him. All it showed was a failing score, and it was used proof that I had failed him as his teacher to help him get to grade level. So this brings up a new topic. What do you consider failure? My interpretation of failure depends on the situation...