Joe Keller
Most likely, in some way or another, we are all involved in some level of education. We each have a student or an educator in our life or may be a student ourselves. So why talk about failure? The idea of failure and education are seemingly incongruent. Students feel the pressure to achieve in school both in the curricular and the co-curricular. Over time, school itself can become a microcosm of all of life for the developing student and may slowly become a pressure cooker for expected life achievement and success.
Today, America’s school system is producing historic levels of institutional academic achievement (which could relate to grade inflation, but that is for another post). But remarkably, students are simultaneously displaying a decreasing ability to manage anxiety and stress. More often than not, these stressors are related to perceived or realized personal failure in and out of the classroom. As the expectation of achievement rises, so does the fear of failure.
Failure as Instruction
A biblical worldview proposes hardships and failures as designed instruction by which we learn about our God, ourselves, and the world in which we live (Rom. 5:1-11; James 1:1-18). To comprehensively educate the whole person, we must include helping our students fail well. Walking alongside them in failure as well as in achievement is an essential component of a redeemed pedagogy.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not advocating that we should promote failure. To pursue achievement with holy ambition is a beautiful dynamic of what it means to express our image-bearing capacities. The framework of the biblical narrative gives us the context to live, create, explore, and enjoy the creation in a way that honors the Lord and brings us joy (Gen. 1:26-31). When failure is demonized and seen as something to be acutely avoided, we miss the distinct opportunity to comprehensively develop lifelong learners.
We must look not to simply support the matriculation of our students through school, but to develop learners from a distinctively biblical worldview that can be expressed in every academic discipline and detail of life for all of life. This, in the end, is the goal of education: not to merely acquire knowledge, but also to gain wisdom (Prov. 4:1-9). Living to learn includes learning from failure. Let’s take a few moments to review some of the learning opportunities in failure.
Failure Produces Perspective
Failure brings the realities of a broken world into perspective. Not everyone hits a home run, gets 100%, or is the lead in the school play. The manicured digital culture in which students live is not exposed to the harsh challenges of the physical world. Learning from failure means gaining perspective on the reality that shapes our insight and future choices. Clear perspective developed through failure helps accurately recognize our broken world as reframed by our identity in Christ (Eph. 4:1-7).
Failure Reinforces Responsibility
When failure comes, our first tendency is to identify its cause. To fail well is not to first look to external influences but to the internal influences that shape failure. Ask the following questions. What could I have done differently to have been more prepared? What counsel did I receive that I did not follow? What should I have given attention to that I postponed? Taking responsibility for failure is the foundation for learning from failure. However, there is a caution to be heeded here. There is nothing noble in taking responsibility for things that certainly are not our responsibility. We must be as diligent in reinforcing responsibility as we are to recognize when that responsibility is not ours to take (Prov. 3:3-4).
Failure Exposes Emotions
The shock of failure can bring a visceral response at times. Our emotional responses are entry gates for us to explore our desires and motivations for the actions we choose. To understand not just what happened and why it failed, but why it matters is very insightful. What motivates us matters. It is possible that the failures are not a matter of capacity but desire. The way we respond to failure exposes what we truly desire and how motivated we are to achieving those desires (Luke 6:45).
Failure Deepens Dependency
Failure forces us to realize that we can’t do everything on our own. Humans are created as dependent beings, and the pathway to maturity is embracing that dependent state. We learn that asking for help from God and others is fundamental to living life well. Those who are instructed by failure learn the overestimation of their own effort and begin to humbly recognize the value of others. In the gospel economy, dependency is the pathway for true flourishing and human achievement (Rom. 12:1-8).
Failure Cultivates Courage
Nobody likes to fail. However, those who have learned from their failures have utilized the lessons to make better subsequent choices toward achievement. The cumulative effect of learning from failure begins to far outweigh the benefits of giving in to the fear of failure itself. Joy in the process of exploration and pursuit develops and brings a level of courage to the most seemingly challenging situations. Those who know that even in failure they are not ultimately at risk become courageous and bold, knowing that God is working all things together for their good (Rom. 8:28).
Understanding the learning opportunities in failure is one thing. To help guide our students through failure is another. The latter requires us to admit that we are in the process of learning through failure ourselves. We must release our own expectations and walk alongside them in the holy pursuit of fearing our God over fearing failure. Fearing God is the beginning of wisdom and is the highest call of a distinctively biblical education of the whole person (Prov. 1:7).
Questions for Reflection
What important things have you learned through failure? How could you encourage students to reframe failure as an opportunity to gain wisdom?
About Joe Keller
Joe Keller (D.Min.) has served to advance transformational education that is intentionally biblical for over 20 years. He currently serves as the Associate Executive Director of Grace Brethren Schools in Simi Valley California and teaches in the Biblical Counseling Department at The Master’s University. He completed his undergraduate degree at The Master's University, Masters of Divinity from The Master’s Seminary, and Doctorate of Ministry from Westminster Theological Seminary. In addition to spending time with students, Joe enjoys reading theology, being outdoors, and laughing with his wife, Heidi, and their four children.
Posted at: http://biblicalcounselingcoalition.org/2019/01/18/helping-students-fail-well/