1 Embracing the Successes of Learning – and the Challenges and Failures
Learning Outcomes
- Assess your mindset toward learning.
- Identify ways to develop a growth mindset toward learning.
- Reflect on how to use failure as a motivator.
Learning in College
Many of your college reading and writing tasks will be challenging. In fact, college is supposed to be hard, and difficult learning tasks require time. You will be reading and writing about entirely new concepts. The vocabulary will be challenging at times. The combination of the newness of the materials and the unknown words can lead students to doubt that they can succeed, but with a certain mindset, they can work through the challenges.
Complete the reflection activity below to examine your prior experiences with challenging learning tasks.
Activity 1: Reflect on Your Learning Experiences
When you struggle with a learning task, such as a reading assignment with new concepts and challenging vocabulary, how do you react?
When you make a mistake or fail at a learning task, how do you react?
Write down your thoughts. Then, discuss them with a peer.
Learning isn’t only about successes. Some of the most impactful learning experiences occur amid challenges and failures, and students must embrace them as crucial parts of learning. The alternative is to turn away from challenges and failures and to give up. With a growth mindset, as described by Carol Dweck below, you can find ways to persist through the tough moments.
Carol Dweck and “Growth Mindset”
Carol Dweck, in her TED Talk “The Power of Believing You Can Improve,” discusses the importance of developing a growth mindset in order to be a resilient learner. Watch this TED Talk below. Then, complete the reflection activity to assess your mindset toward learning.
Carol Dweck’s TED Talk is shared under a Creative Commons license, CC BY–NC–ND 4.0.
Activity 2: Reflect on Your Mindset
Based on Carol Dweck’s TED Talk, identify the subjects in school that you tend to approach with a growth mindset and those that you approach with a fixed mindset.
Then, consider how you will work on developing a growth mindset in the areas where you take a fixed approach.
Write down your thoughts. Then, discuss them with a peer.
If a task is challenging you, it does not mean that you are incapable. It means that the task will take more time and persistence. It may require you to seek help or access resources. A growth mindset allows students to recognize the learning opportunities they have if they commit the time and push through the challenges.
Failure as Motivation
The article below by Stephen Langston builds on Carol Dweck’s concept of growth mindset. Langston discusses how failure can be used as motivation. After reading the article, complete the reflection activity. Click here to download and print a copy of the article.
How early failure can lead to success later in creative careers
Stephen Langston, University of the West of Scotland
November 8, 2022
1 Failing early in our careers can make us question whether we are on the right path. We may look at people who have succeeded from the outset and wonder why it doesn’t come so easily to us. Classical violinist Nigel Kennedy, actor Natalie Portman and painter Pablo Picasso are examples of young geniuses who were successful early on.
2 But for some of us, failure at the beginning of our careers is important to later success. For many creatives, how we deal with those moments when things aren’t going right or you’ve received yet another rejection letter can make or break us.
3 The author and self-improvement lecturer Dale Carnegie maintained that inaction breeds doubt and fear; action creates confidence and courage, which inevitably ends up helping a person to succeed. This chimes with what American psychologist Carol Dweck outlines in her 2006 book Mindset.
4 Dweck discusses the concept of people with a “fixed mindset” versus a “growth mindset”. The former is a way of thinking where there is a lack of self belief and a negative persona while the latter is where no challenge or task is too large to take on board. Which mindset you have dictates how you will interpret failure and success and how well you approach everyday life.
5 A passion for learning and a desire to improve upon failure creates opportunities to learn and challenge yourself. This mentality is a boon to creatives. While yes, there are the Picassos and Portmans of the world, there are also a few famous creatives who had to overcome failure early on in their careers. These individuals demonstrate the “growth mindset”.
Rejection doesn’t have to kill dreams
6 A young school teacher from Maine, US, was a passionate part-time writer who worked tirelessly trying to get his novels published (unsuccessfully) in the late 1960s. He continued to believe in himself and chase the dream of becoming a successful author. But sometimes the reality of failure gets the better of a person and after 30 rejections he famously threw his fourth attempt at a novel away.
7 Fortunately, the manuscript was saved by his wife who, having confidence in his work, persuaded him to continue trying. Eventually, the novel was sold for an advance of £2000, a nice bonus for a schoolteacher. The publishing rights were ultimately purchased for an additional £200,000 and the novel Carrie turned Stephen King into a household name.
8 Dreams can propel us forward but they can also be crushed by rejection. The composer Johnathon Larson spent years working on his 1991 musical Superbia only for it to be turned down by theatre producers. He was told by his agent to “go away and write something you know about”.
9 This was a crushing moment for Larson. Eight years of work rejected. However, he listened to the advice and his next musical Rent premiered on Broadway in 1996, becoming a box office sensation. The semi-autobiographical Tick, Tick Boom, which Larson began performing as a one-man show in 1990, went on to also be a hit when it premiered in 2001. It has recently been turned into a major motion picture directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda (creator of Hamilton).
10 Larson’s secret was to learn from failure and take on the advice given to him. He used that experience to propel himself forward. Sadly, Larson never witnessed his triumph, he died on the eve of Rent’s Broadway premier in 1996 from an aortic dissection. But his life, including his failures, made him successful. His roadblocks became his inspiration. Both of his successful productions tell the stories of larger-than-life characters struggling with their failings while trying to achieve a degree of success.
Overcoming difficult circumstances
11 There are situations in life that conspire to make us fail. However, adversity can often act as a springboard of determination to succeed. My turning point as a youngster was failing my grade five music theory exam. That one singular event, although heartbreaking, made me determined to succeed in music and become a composer and producer of Scottish Musicals.
12 Others deal with much more difficult circumstances. Imagine being homeless, penniless with partial facial paralysis, yet dreaming of an acting career. Never-ending rejection from talent scouts and agents, hours of waiting for appointments that never materialise, such a life would be demoralising. However, the realisation of personal failure can become the catalyst for success.
13 This real-life scenario eventually earned Sylvester Stallone over £178 million and catapulted his writing and acting career to stardom. He didn’t let these circumstances, which led to failure, stop him. The key here is that he believed in his ability and that drove him onward. Continual failure reinforced his resolve to succeed.
14 Steven Spielberg had poor high school grades and was rejected three times from film school. He battled through his early career failures before eventually directing 51 films and winning three Oscars. Again, it was his perseverance and self belief that drove his determination to succeed.
15 We might never become the next Spielberg, King or Larson but the lesson learnt from their experiences is a sharp reminder of the mantra of playwright Samuel Beckett:
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
16 Failure is not damaging, it is part of a proactive progression and once we learn to accept that we might be unstoppable. I eventually passed my grade five theory exam and went on to get two degrees and a PhD in musical theatre, the rest is history … my personal history began with a failure for which I am very proud.
This article is part of Fail Better, a series for those of us in our 20s and 30s about navigating the moments when things aren’t quite going as planned. Many of us are tuned into the highlight reel of social media, where our peers share their successes in relationships, careers and family. When you feel like you’re not measuring up, the pieces in this special Quarter Life series will help you learn how to cope with, and even grow from, failure.
Stephen Langston, Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for Performance, University of the West of Scotland
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Activity 3: Reflect on Experiences with Failure
Consider your experiences with failure as they relate to Stephen Langston’s article. Record your responses to the questions below. Then, share your thoughts and experiences with a peer.
- When have you given up in the face of failure?
- When has failure made you more determined to reach a goal?
- As you anticipate the challenges of college, how do you want to handle mistakes and failure?
Additional Reading
If you are interested in exploring this topic in more detail, there are several articles on the topic of learning from failure from The Conversation in the series “Fail Better.”