Neysa Miller responding to: JK Rowling on the benefits of failure…
J.K. Rowling stated in her Harvard commencement speech, “And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” During her speech, she told her story of hardship and how that played a role in her success. After reaching her “rock bottom”, she began to actively pursue her passion of writing and was then able to achieve success.
I do not think that Rowling’s benefits of failure theory fits well into today’s educational climate. Today’s educational climate is structured for achievement and success. It does not recognize the benefits of struggling or failure. Traditional college admissions are based on a student’s historical academic success rather than his or her passion, desire, or ability to achieve success. We, as a society in general, tend to measure future success on past successes.
If a school leader agrees with Rowling’s benefits of failure philosophy, there are several ways that they can use that concept to enhance a student’s academic experience. A school leader can inspire students by sharing stories of successful people such as J.K. Rowling. They can also lead by example and share such valuable knowledge with students in order to inspire them to achieve their maximum potential. School leaders can also use academic failures to provide students with on-going learning experiences. They can also use such experiences to enable students to self-discover many of life’s important lessons.
“We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better”.
Hi, Neysa!
ReplyDeleteI watched this TED too. I wish it would be as easy in today's society to teach and accept failure as a "good thing". In order for school leaders and teachers to accept failure in schools, I believe students need to be "taught" how to fail in order for students to be able to learn from their failure. Students must be given the opportunity rethink it, figure out what went wrong, and figure out a new way of solving the problem.
Annelle,
ReplyDeleteThanks for responding! I think many parents do not want their children to fail. They only want their children to do well and be happy. They do not see the benefits of failure! Teaching in a private school, we see this very often!!