We may not have all failed a class, or an even a particular assignment or exam, but I suspect most all of us reading this blog had the opportunity to fail. For me personally, I never failed a class but I did fail an exam or assignment, and to this day I don’t think I ever learned the material. Essentially, by failing, somebody gave up on me and I gave up on myself. Not in the big picture, but in the fine detail, where if I needed to get from A to Z it didn’t matter if I remembered F, P or Q along the way.
This all may sound abstract, but an Ottawa school board is making news lately with a program that does not let students fail. And I can’t help but wonder if I would have better learned certain material – let’s say a physics lesson – if instead of marking “F” on my exam I was required to work through the exam again with the teacher.
The idea to keep pushing students is not unique to Ottawa, it’s a movement world-wide. “You can’t give up on them when they’re teenagers,” says high school principal Renald Cousineau. “I see it as a moral imperative not to give up on students.”
Schools often sift students into some variation of smart, more smart and less smart. Classes often are set up to foster competition through pop quizzes and other strategies that don’t necessarily foster an ideal learning environment for students. At the featured Ottawa high school students that do not succeed are given second chances, which is more like the “real world.”
Critics often claim that programs like this inflate school performance or amount to “letting” students pass. But the reality is far from that. Students are given the opportunity to pass – to not fail – after their first unsuccessful attempt. In the credit recovery program students can take the time they need – maybe it’s a few weeks, maybe it’s more – to learn the material they didn’t master the first time and ultimately pass, earn the credits they need, and advance in their education.
Nobody can be expected to get everything right the first time. Especially students. And no student really wants to have to go into a credit recovery program because that means they didn’t do as well as they could have the first time (yes, maybe they even failed). After all, the whole idea behind education is that students learn. Assigning an “F” only assures a student hasn’t learned.
Although I like the sound of this program, it certainly has drawn a lot of attention and there is a healthy debate on the subject. CBC Radio One program Ontario Today is making this their main topic this afternoon between noon and 2pm Eastern time, and I’d say it’s likely to be a vigorous debate.
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Hmmm… I like the idea of this. An opportunity to pass rather than just failing in theory is great. It helps the kids that need it.
My concern is the actual implementation. Are they just going to give kids a passing grade without the extra work or will they really put in the time and effort to help the kids? It comes down to both teachers and the administration giving more time to students. From what I’ve seen the teachers have been given less and less time over the years.
I agree Nikita. The idea and concept are great, but as the Ottawa Citizen article states, the program will “push teachers to work more closely with students to ensure they learn”, rather than failing them. In my opinion, teachers should be doing this already.
If students are just not learning or putting in the effort, this needs to be addressed by both parents and schools and they shouldn’t be given a passing grade if they don’t deserve it.
I agree with Agnes that teachers are hopefully already working closely with students to ensure they succeed – but we know that it’s not always the case unfortunately.
I think there are two groups we’re talking about: The ones that may need some extra assistance, but really do try and failing would devastate their self-esteem and future ability to try, and those that simply don’t try or try to abuse the system or the ‘no fail’ option. Sometimes, in certain situations, a little failure teaches our children how to pick and and keep going or how to work harder to achieve what they want.
Very well put Rebecca!
Our society has attached quite a stigma to ‘failure.’ This is particularly evident in schools, where students and parents alike view the dreaded “F” as a catastrophe. There is another perspective however – looking at failure as a learning opportunity. If we use assessment and evaluation instruments that identify exemplars, we can teach kids what they need to do to move from the “F” to success. As George Bernard Shaw states : “A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent in doing nothing.”