Failure provides us with a massively powerful foundation for growth. The ability to transcend our failures, and uncover ways to be successful from them, speaks to the strength of our character. My own insecurities with failure have taught me how valuable a tool it can be to the road of success. I instil students with the knowledge that failure is a natural and positive process in our classroom. Challenging students to acknowledge the things that aren’t working and find new approaches to get the best out of themselves builds an intrinsic motivational sense that will serve them in and out of our classroom. Developing this tool will fuel them with the self determination to overcome any adversity they may face in the classroom, and in life.

     Students commit to the idea of making mistakes as soon as they step into the room by slapping a BELIEVE sign. Bringing strong, refreshed mentalities into the room fills students with the fortitude to withstand failure as they work. This energy allows me to engage with my students straight away, finding ways to challenge them with tasks that they may not have thought they could achieve. And sometimes, they can’t. But that is part of our process. I circulate from table to table, guiding students with questions and challenging them to explore their own solutions during their process. But I make sure my students know I will never ask them to do anything I won’t. I work right alongside my students. I make mistakes often and talk my students through my own processes as I work, pointing out when I know I will revisit an area, or perhaps re-purpose a failure through the implementation of the elements of art. Exposing my own works’ need for fluidity and grace supports the idea of a safe environment for their failure. Not only does this promote their own self-belief, but it develops the skill of design thinking. In this way, my students and I become partners in learning - often acting as collaborators in a room that thrives under the ingenuity of its students.

     We live in a society that overwhelms us with consumption and strives to promote the consistent delivery of the things we desire. Students with the ability to overcome that instant gratification process - to forage through the wilderness of artistic expressions and come out on the other side having discovered their own fulfilment - are the types of students grown in my classroom. Witnessing students overcome the challenges of a project through their own experimentation and belief is an experience that solidifies the concept of teaching failure. This process of internal discovery is the sharpening of the steel for my students. Steel that forms from foundational skills, determination for fun, and overcoming their challenges. Earning success in this exploration allows my students to experience an ultimate reward in terms of gratification. My students' ability to utilize acceptance and adaptability to failure in their exploration develops the skills to be successful in any endeavour they may aspire to.