The F Word

"Everything about the way we structure school communicates that failure is the opposite of success," writes Julia Hodges in The 'F' Word. "You either pass a class or you fail a class; and that pass/fail determination is made on a rigid timeline and leaves a permanent mark.... According the rules of school, failure is to be avoided at all costs."

In the real world, though, failure is the genesis of success and a natural part of creativity and problem-solving. " Outside of school," Julia notes, "failure is not the opposite of success; it’s part of the process."

What better way to start Season Two of the ReDesigning School podcast than an eyes-wide open examination of this failure to understand failure? Julia is a Hawken teacher and member of the design team shaping The Mastery School of Hawken. She also teaches a Macro course in Engineering that seeks, in part, to reframe failure so that students come to see it as an essential and even welcomed aspect of making something that matters.

Take a look at the short video about the Rocket Science class Julia mentions. It's worth the minute, we swear!

Thanks as always to Nick Fletcher for editing this episode.