Sometimes we hear "failure is not an option." I suppose there are times when that is appropriate as guidance, but in reality all endeavors that we take on are subject to failure. The question is how do we deal with it.
While not specifically charter school related, "The Benefits of Failure" by Peter DeWitt on the EdWeek site outlines the reason that we ought to allow students to fail and to learn from their failures.
I know that I fail often enough that I need to learn the lesson that a failure is not the end of the world. I also think that DeWitt is right. We have become a society that is in denial about failure and tries to do everything we can to make sure our children don't fail. Sometimes taking away reality is not a good thing.
