In addition to planning out the appropriate curriculum, and balancing work and fun, I need my students to be comfortable to put it all out there. I need them to be ok with the possibility of failure. This comfort with failure is easier with some students than others, because some students have been obsessed with attaining points, and those points come with perfection. That can be a hard mindset to break.
One thing that allows for students to be comfortable with failure in my classroom is the fact that I grade process over product. A student in my class could tackle a challenging project, struggle through, and in the end fail, and still get 100%. That is because of how I grade. Students are graded on their ability to plan, research, practice skills and techniques, reflect and adjust, and show improvement. Most of these things are not dependent on a product. A student could turn in a well thought through digital portfolio of a project that was a total failure, and still get that A. This allows my points chasers to take on something more challenging without the fear of loosing points if it doesn't work out. They still may not be convinced right away, but over time they will see you are serious about this change in grading art.
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| Pages from a student portfolio explaining their process |
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| Pages from a student portfolio explaining their process |
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| Pages from a student portfolio explaining their process |
Another way I encourage students to take on big challenges is that I share stories of studnets who tried epic projects that were a failure. When I tell those stories, I let studnets know how incredible the attempt was, and how proud I was that they tried. I also tell how amazing other students thought the attempt was. This celebration of great risk, great challenge, with failure helps students to see that it is safe. I have to also remind them that their grade is based on the process, the learning, the journey. I have been considering adding an award for the end of the year for "greatest challenge", or "biggest risk taken".
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| Pages from a student portfolio explaining their process |
Another thing I do, is talk about my own failures to tell what I learned from them. I was just telling my students about the first carving competition I was in when the carver next to me said, "You must have come up with a new breed of black bear, because no real bear has a nose like that". I told them how devastating a critique like that can be to an artist, if the artist allows it to be. But, I realized that at one point in time, this guys black bears weren't so great either, and the only reason he is great now is because he heard the criticism, and used it to help him grow. I let students know that they should filter criticism, and if they can learn from it, they should, and if not, let it slide off their back (easier said than done). I went back to my hotel that night, and studied bear noses, saw the flaw, fixed my nose, and ended up with a better carving because of the critique. I also tell them that if I listened to my fear there is no way I would be in a world class chainsaw carving competition, because they terrify me!
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| My Recent Work for an Australian Chainsaw Competition |
This is my basic message when talking to students about the success they see, and the failure that proceeded it: "When the world sees your success, they forget that they weren't there to see the struggle that proceeded it. They didn't see the doubt, the fear, the tears, and all of the failure before the successful end. We need to become comfortable with fear, so that it can not cripple us, it cannot control us. That is how we make it through to the success at the other end." This is a great lesson not only for art, but for other areas of their lives.
How about you? How do you encourage students to really challenge themselves? How do you help them to not fear failure?
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