Failure is often seen as a bad word by our students. Although failure is usually not a pleasant experience, it does present an opportunity to learn and grow. In a recent chapel service, I told the story of Thomas Edison’s journey to invent the light bulb. After thousands and thousands of failed attempts to create the first light bulb, Edison finally succeeded. All of us have our own stories of overcoming failure and eventually finding success. Still, it is a natural human tendency to avoid the possibility of failure by running from projects or tasks that challenge us.
This is a daily challenge for teachers and parents alike, to support our students by allowing them to experience struggles and difficulties and yes, sometimes even failure. Those times of difficulty are where real learning and growth takes place. I know from personal experience that I have grown the most when times were the toughest.
All too often we teach children to avoid failure at all cost instead of allowing them to experience failure while providing them the tools to grow from it. We worry about the impact of failure on our children’s self-concept, and while it is important to nurture and develop this in the child, it is much more important to support our children by giving them the resources and skills to handle the trials, disappointments, and difficulties that life will bring. There is no better time for helping students deal with disappointment in a constructive way than the years they spend at Woodland in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. This is the training ground for high school and eventually adulthood, and with the support of our teachers and parents we will help raise a generation of students that can view the trials and disappointments of life as opportunities for growth. Adopting this growth mindset mentality in ourselves and fostering it in our students will prepare them for the social, academic, and life challenges that we all must face.
Adam Moore, Head of School
