The power to fail 

This article first appeared in the printed TISCA News and Views in Autumn 2024

Walk down any corridor in any self-respecting school and you’ll most likely find posters with a quote like this on them: ‘Failure isn’t an option. It’s a requirement.’ 

But I wonder how often you’ve heard a failure-embracing colleague say, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. 

As adults we are wary of change for the same reasons that our students are wary of failure – Change and Failure (and their parent, Having A Go) often lead to less good outcomes on the way to better ones and, let’s face it, sometimes just lead to less good outcomes. 

What does Christianity offer to give us and our students the power to fail, and so grow, learn and lead fulfilling lives? 

1) Redemption separates self-esteem from failure 

At Monkton we try to turn the usual tactic for building self-esteem on its head. Rather than using success to build confidence, we use confidence to build success. But that does beg the question – how do we build confidence? 

The Bible speaks of a God whose attitude to humanity is one of favour divorced from performance. As Christians, we can look failure full in the face knowing that past and ongoing failure have no bearing on our present or future status before God. This is a powerful, unique source of self-worth. 

Not only that, but the Bible also makes clear that ongoing failure is part of this Gods’ plan to grow our Christlikeness. ‘And we know that in all things [including our failure] God works for the good of those who love him’ Rom 8:28.  

Of course Christians don’t have a monopoly on suggesting that unconditional appreciation leads to a healthier attitude to embracing failure, but compared to the messages which the world gives, it is strikingly unalloyed.  

A glance at the apparent routes to find self-esteem in social media, the workplace, and high-stakes assessments reveals significant ambivalence in our world. 

2) Sovereignty replaces uncertainty with confidence  

‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’ Prov 9:10. Fear of God has a number of facets one of which is an appreciation of his unchallengeable sovereignty. In the hands of a capricious being, such sovereignty would be debilitating, but combined with the truths expressed in Rom 8:28, the debilitation of uncertainty is replaced by the confidence of assurance. 

Vine’s expository dictionary talks about the biblical concept of wisdom ‘as a process of attainment and not an accomplishment.’ Knowing that it is a journey with a certain destination is a powerful antidote to the fear of failure which stops us in our tracks. 

How, as Christian educators, how can these ideas shape our practice in schools where at least some, and indeed perhaps many, of those we teach do not share that faith?  

The unconditional appreciation that Jesus showed to those he encountered was, time and again, the catalyst for change in their lives. As his followers, knowing our certain destination, we have the privilege of holding out that same unconditional appreciation with the opportunity for the same transformative effect.  

And as we do it falteringly and imperfectly, we too take further steps on our own journey of wisdom. 

Joe Sidders has taught in five schools and finishes this summer at Monkton Combe after 10 years of service. In that time he has been Deputy Head Academic, Deputy Head Learning (leading the academic and co-curricular life of the school) and Director of Quality (as an internal coach facilitating quality assurance). He moves on to Repton School with his family – Sarah, his wife, and 3 children – to take on the role of Deputy Head Academic.