UTSA Academic Innovation

It’s Time to Talk about Failure

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Overview

Failure is a normal part of life, especially in college. Society often judges people based on success or failure. But successful people often learn from their failures. A growth mindset is important for success. Here are ways to discuss failure with students.

Red coffee mug, napkin with blue text, and a pen on a painted wooden surface.  Transcribed Text:  Failure is success in progress.

Normalize Struggle by Sharing Your Own

Everyone fails and everyone struggles at some time in their life. This doesn’t mean that they are “less” than anyone else, it just means that they haven’t learned that thing yet. It’s important for students to see how they can recover from failure and be successful. Sharing your own failure story can go a long way to showing students that if you can do it, they can too.

Validate Their Feelings and Share Resources

It’s okay to acknowledge that we’ve failed and move on from it. Let students know you understand their struggle and that they are normal. Share UTSA’s wellbeing resources, and information on growth mindset and imposter syndrome so they can better understand why they might be struggling.

Talk About Failure as a Learning Opportunity

It’s important to embrace mistakes, acknowledge our failure and move on. All failure and struggle should be used as teaching moments for faculty and learning moments for students. Encourage students to reflect on why they are struggling and how they can do better in the future.

For more, review these additional resources:

Support 

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