By Madison Chadwick Thomas, guest contributor
I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.
– Thomas Edison
Think about the last time you failed at something.
How did it make you feel? For many, trying something new and failing can leave us feeling embarrassed. Defeated. Unmotivated to try and figure it out.
For most of our lives, we’ve erred on the side of hiding our failures. But why does failure get such a bad rap? It is an inevitable event in everyone’s lives, and being able to embrace it is key to problem solving and learning. Chicago Voyagers not only embraces it, we’re teaching our young adventurers how to do it right.
Creating a Supportive Environment to Fail
When kids haven’t been given a comfortable environment to fail, this can often lead to fear and anxiety about trying new things. As adults, our instinct so often is to rush in and help when a child is having trouble with something. But what happens when we give them a little time and space to figure it out on their own?
“As parents, educators, and role models, we are not meeting our obligations to trainees unless we instruct them on the importance of failure, how to react to it, and most importantly, how to learn from it. Failure is imperative for developing the tenacity and self-control necessary to interact effectively with our complex environment,” said Joseph Loscalzo, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
At Chicago Voyagers, we want our kids to feel safe—to know that they are protected, but also that they can try new things with the only expectation being that they do try. We take the time to create a friendly, safe environment through activities that build connection so that we can be cheerleaders for each other instead of strangers.
There is freedom waiting for you,
on the breezes of the sky.
And you ask, “What if I fall?”
Oh, but my darling, what if you fly?
-Erin Hanson
Reflecting on What Went Wrong
“I suck at that.”
…it isn’t the most gracious way for someone to point out they have failed at something, but it is something we’ve heard many times at Chicago Voyagers. Like many people, these kids come from neighborhoods that aren’t full of hills, mountains, or bodies of water—so why do they feel discouraged at the idea that they wouldn’t be good at hiking, camping, or sailing if it isn’t something they’ve grown up doing? We aim to put that into perspective for them; it isn’t a big deal if they don’t get something right the first, fifth, or tenth time. What matters is they try, and that they take away something from each failure.
Reflection is a huge part of Chicago Voyagers programming, and we want our kids to have fun while also creating teachable moments. We discuss with them when something goes wrong and help them think about what they might do differently next time. Taking the time to put things into perspective eases the “pain” of failure.
By creating a supportive, safe environment for our Voyagers to problem solve, it is our hope that they leave their adventures more confident in themselves. We do not measure their success by how well they performed any of the activities, but by their determination to try and their ability to reflect on their experience.
