1.1 Inspirational Quote

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  Posted by CUNY Mindset Initiative on December 26, 2023 at 4:27 pm

  1.1 Inspirational Quote

  “Failure is a greater teacher than success.”​

  —  Clarissa Pinkola Estés

  💬  Discussion:

  1. Respond to this quote: Comment, reflect, agree/disagree, share a similar or contradictory quote, or provide an example to support or reject this quote. You may use text, video, audio, etc.
  2. Respond constructively and substantively (≥2 sentences) to another participant’s comments.

• Matthew Brittain (he/him)

  Member

  July 15, 2024 at 12:09 pm

  I absolutely agree it is important for someone who experiences failure to have the opportunity to reflect about what worked and what did not work. Students should be encouraged to reflect on how taking better advantage of the resources available to support them could have resulted in success, rather than being hard on themselves for not being “smart enough” or not “working hard enough.”
  Olga (she/her)

  Member

  July 15, 2024 at 12:30 pm

  The quote makes me think of another, maybe not yet popular phrase that “practice makes progress” (not perfect), which is really the goal of higher education. The concept of failure is a big part of this mantra, that small steps contribute to the whole, whether they are positive or negative lessons.
  Olga (she/her)

  Member

  July 15, 2024 at 12:37 pm

  Yes!!! Well said and right on point, one does not become an expert in something just by dreaming about it. Learning and growth come from challenging experiences—failure and commitment go hand in hand.
  Careen Purcell

  Member

  July 15, 2024 at 1:52 pm

  The quote inspires me because it suggests that success might lead to complacency, as the achiever may lose motivation. On the other hand, encountering failure offers an opportunity for self-reflection, learning, and developing new strategies. Moreover, perseverance is crucial in the face of failure. It can provide individuals with valuable knowledge that they can use to motivate others and demonstrate the lessons learned from setbacks, making others feel determined and resilient.
  Here’s a similar quote:
  “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill :
  Marta Kowalczyk

  Participant

  July 15, 2024 at 3:30 pm

  From personal experience, a setback creates a greater desire to achieve more. I wouldn’t call it a failure; it’s just a redirection of the focus to achieve the goal.
  Robin Naughton

  Participant

  July 23, 2024 at 10:37 am

  The quote touches on the understanding that failure can teach you more than your success might.  If you are successful, and you expect to be successful, then you are convinced that your approach works and there is no need to reflect deeply upon it.  However, if you are not successful and you expect to be successful, then you are not convinced that your approach works and as such you find it necessary to figure out what worked and what didn’t work and how you can be successful going forward.  Thus, you learn more, reflect more, make changes, grow, and try again. Now, if we always reflect on what works or doesn’t work regardless of success or failure, we will always learn something new and grow whether we succeed or not.  Because success and failure are relative and personal, what is considered a success to one may be considered a failure to another and vice versa.

  • This reply was modified 2 days, 6 hours ago by Robin Naughton.
  • This reply was modified 2 days, 6 hours ago by Robin Naughton.
  Robin Naughton

  Participant

  July 23, 2024 at 10:53 am

  I agree.  As Nelson Mandela once said, “I never lose. I either win or I learn.”  Failure is relative and one data point. Having multiple and diverse data points help you learn more and do more.
  Katherine Joubin

  Member

  July 23, 2024 at 11:40 am

  I think it’s a great idea to provide challenging problems with multiple steps, followed by a discussion on different approaches to solving a problem. This way, they can see wrong answers as learning opportunities rather than mistakes. That is directly relevant to the genetics problems you are teaching, but also to so many other aspects of the biological sciences.
  Casandra Silva Sibilin (she/her/hers)

  Member

  July 25, 2024 at 10:46 am

  I came across this resource through my Computing Integrated Teacher Education (CITE) Digital Humanities reading group, and remembered this forum! So interesting to find “failure” as a keyword:
  https://digitalpedagogy.hcommons.org/keyword/Failure

  This article is specially relevant:
  https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2012/08/21/essay-importance-teaching-failure