EDC 230 - Chapter 5

 

    The fifth chapter of The Growth Mindset Playbook by Annie Brock and Heather Hundley discusses how failure can lead to a path of success in the classroom. Some of the most outstanding achievements are discovered through continuous failure and resilience. The author uses Thomas Edison and his success in lightbulbs to compare how failing can be viewed as a way to find out what does not work. This can solely be achieved by operating through a growth mindset. If teachers work with a fixed mindset, it will only make it more difficult to help students through the learning process. To overcome this barrier, the authors recommend that teachers challenge themselves, which will relate to students because they are immersing themselves in struggle. Educators should normalize struggle and failure because it will aid them in developing strong characteristics like grit, resilience, and perseverance.

    The authors explain how to implement struggle, “The first step in our plan to normalize struggle and failure in your classroom is to help students view them as key parts of the learning process” (Brock and Hundley 72). This displays that having students acknowledge that failing is a fundamental part of learning is crucial. This chapter covers a plan that students can utilize; it is called an If/Then plan. It sets a path for them to follow and, if necessary, to get back on track. The If/Then plan works by considering obstacles that students may encounter during a specific task and how they will overcome them. Creating a culture in the classroom that allows redo's or handing back previous work is necessary for learners to demonstrate their resilience. Overall, struggle and failure are key to learning from life experiences and applying those inside and outside the classroom.