Failure is NOT an option is the most ubiquitous lie in education. It is on posters in hallways and on walls in classrooms. It stands proudly on school websites and appears in a mission statement or two. It reads on a six foot banner hanging from the counter in the main office in a low-performing, urban North Carolina high school. It was chosen as the title of a recent book on education. It is the battle cry of nearly every school district I am asked to visit. Yet it is a lie.
Of course, the sentiment is noble: We want every child to succeed, we want every child to pass. Then maybe we should say that. Maybe we shouldn’t tell kids that failure is not an option. It most certainly is an option. I know of no school in America having a 100% passing rate; therefore, failing must be an option.
We tell kids lies a lot. We post rules in classrooms that are not followed. We say an assignment is due and then hedge on the due date (admittedly, sometimes for good reason). We say we’re going to collect an assignment and then fail to do so. We promise extra credit and then never really enter the points. We post Honor Code posters in dozens of classrooms that are neither discussed nor, in many schools, followed. We tell kids their work is good when it is not. This happens when students try really hard and despite the work falling short, we cave to our sympathetic side and don’t have the heart to tell them. And while there is nothing wrong with sympathizing with our students – to not do so is wide of the mark – it is not okay to lie to them.
There is a prevalence to accept shoddy work and grade it as good, particularly in low-performing schools. I was recently asked to assist the math department in a rural South Carolina middle school. The students who attend the school are mostly from homes of low SES and the population of the school is 96% black, 3% white and 1% Hispanic. While standing in the eighth grade hallway awaiting a math class to begin, I passed the time by looking at a huge collection of student-made posters hanging in the hall outside a social studies class. The posters were all on the Holocaust and many were adorned with the disturbing photos that usually accompany the topic. Most had text, in large font or handwriting, explaining some aspect of the Holocaust. I was impressed at first glance. The social studies teacher had obviously spent a good deal of time on the topic and the students demonstrated that they (at least the ones who made posters) learned a fair amount. But when I looked closely and began to actually read the text in the posters, I realized they were littered with misspelled words. In one poster – the one specifically on Hitler – his name was spelled Adoft Hilter every time it appeared, seven times in all counting the title of the poster. How could this work be posted in the hallway? How could a responsible teacher not correct the student, allowing him the chance to be proud of and show off in the hallway a first rate poster?
When I happened to see the teacher outside his door several periods later, I commended him on the work he and his students had done on the Holocaust. Without seeming overly critical or picky, I suggested that I saw some posters with misspellings, include Hitler’s name. He retorted that, of the 80-something social studies students he teaches, only 32 bothered to make a poster (though it was a required assignment). “Hey,” he sighed, “I’m lucky I got these…”
Maybe he’s right. Or maybe there is a disturbing irony that the very students who tried, those who cared about the assignment and cared about their education, were the ones whose education got shortchanged. dven.
April 6, 2008 at 8:05 am
You bring up sensitive issues since school is supposed to follow the political agenda. We are somehow told to keep up the political intentions by telling the students that they are all to be successful. No Child Left Behind sounds so good in many people´s ears, but WHY are some students left behind? Maybe that is a more relevant question to answer rather than stating that everyone must be on board, so to speak.
It is a dilemma to openly speak about failing as an most realistic option. I think that is because most of us teachers have a soft spot for our students. We too, want them to reach both their own goals, society´s goals as well as our goals for them and ourselves.
Personally I have learnt to try to distinguish what goal I am speaking about when I talk to a student. Are we speaking about something I want or something the student wants?
Like you said, failure is an option - otherwise we would not have any failures in school. Let´s be honest and talk about the option “failure”. What happens then? What options do the student have when he/she admits him/herself to that path? Although nobody would be happy to clearly anounce that I am choosing failure…
My experience is that you come closer to your student´s own ambitions when you speak about the reality. If the academic progress doesn´t look to good - what different alternatives do we have? Dropping out high school is still an option. Many students do that every year. What happens to them? What are the consequences?
If we all try to make our youngsters more aware of their own will, their own goals and dreams in life - then I believe we can support these ambitions rather than use the whip; or else…
As I see it, the problem is many times that there are no goals… there is no dream of achieving a better future… there is no hope. We need to address problem and find out where it stems from.
http://annalysis.wordpress.com/
April 6, 2008 at 8:19 am
oops… I meant; We need to address this problem and find out where it stems from.
Furthermore, when I speak about “we” I don´t mean only teachers. This is something for all adults, parents, social workers, politicians and others to take seriously.
Kids need time and support, guidance and help to gain trust. There are too many disappointed and let down youngsters out there. How can we make sure that they believe in themselves when we keep telling lies?
Thank you for an interesting post. I hope more teachers find this blog worth reading.
April 7, 2008 at 10:35 am
Thanks for posting - that’s what this blog is for. So….way to go in getting the convo started.
I like the point made about focusing on students’ “own will”. I suppose an apt alternative title to my original essay might be SUCCESS IS AN OPTION. This focuses on what is possible and embeds the notion of student choice.
Who else has a comment or thought? Go for it. dven.
April 7, 2008 at 3:42 pm
I think it is possible, even with at-risk kids, to set a standard, however simple, and help everyone meet it. So for the posters: the standard could be “properly spelled words.” It’s easy enough to check through the spelling with each kid. I teach writing in juvenile corrections and I just pencil in changes before a student finishes a piece. The student corrects the errors and then finishes the piece. All it takes is a very clear statement of what is expected–not even deep or complex! Even intellectually challenged kids like producing a clean, accurate piece.
Cathy Wilson
April 29, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Good Day,
Perhaps “Success is an Option” is a better sentiment. The billboard that hits me is the fact that students make CHOICES. AND there are rewards and repercussions based on those choices. Pressure to pervert the outcome of choices comes from parents, administration, and policies. Teachers can not “fail” a student. It becomes a reflection of the educator’s ability and not the student’s lack of responsibility or poor family dynamics. There is a perversion when the student and parents can not receive what they have earned in the classroom. Therefore, “CHOICES” become irrelevant and integrity becomes compromised.
If students were allowed to fail they might just develop a concept that ACTIONS matter. My CHOICES matter. Parents may actually consider the fact that participation in their child’s life matters. Parents respond after the fact, and pursue the educator and staff relentlessly until accommodation is made. That is perverse.
I believe in a sympathetic and compassionate effort toward students who may be challenged in their learning abilities. We are trained and prepared to do what it takes.
When irresponsibility is the cause of failure, no classroom will prosper. If students were taught to “care” about performance, as much as their cell phones and iPODS, they would have a fine chance at succeeding. If discipline was a concept or enforced, who knows how transformed education would become. In one of the responses, the writer says we should have students discover their own “will”, rather than use the whip! On the contrary, it’s the student’s lack of ambition that substantiates the article. That sentiment of “self discovery” IS the problem. There is no whip ! A productive “will” begins with responsibility. A productive “will” respects choices. A productive “will” chooses success. A productive “will” cares. If students haven’t been guided from birth to respect authority or consequences, who’s going to re-program them in the classroom? Anyone heard of “tough love?”
The author is adamant about lying to children. He is adamant about shoddy standards. What a hero! He is correct! We should be horrified that only 32 bothered to do the project referenced, much less their inability to spell. The other 48 should what …… Fail ? I think a reality check is in order ! It is unfortunate the teacher is disillusioned. What would you do? Nonetheless …… never give up !!!