3 Steps To Help Learners Fail
Zoe Fitzgerald is the co-founder of Alkimia Learning.
This fascinating video by Yoann Bourgeois has been doing the rounds, especially internally here at Alkimia.
Visually captivating, the physical poetry on show speaks to significant themes of trust, self-belief and confidence.
And in our world of transformational learning, this live performance has sparked in me a deeper reflection: how do we support our learners as they climb their development steps to mastery?
What is the 'trampoline' or safety net we provide as learning experience designers and facilitators – so learners can bounce back and not be afraid of falling?
How can we encourage learners to keep climbing and achieve what they are aiming for?
I cast my mind back to a project designing a program for recent graduates. The program required learners to manage an innovation project with extra distinct challenges built in. These included collaborating on the project across time zones in different locations whilst still managing their regular daily tasks.
At first people felt like they were failing and falling short. Frustration set in, especially at the program organisers. After we reframed the purpose of the 'built in challenges' and the 'failing' they were experiencing, perspective shifted.
Manu Kapur calls this 'productive failure' - when we turn failures into a designed learning mechanism to change perspective and ultimately, supportive people to develop.
Our mistake in this case was not communicating this design upfront and preparing the graduates for the fact that it was going to be challenging.
From this, here are three impactful steps I’ve found that help prepare learners for 'productive failure,' supporting them to 'bounce back' and stay motivated on their learning journeys.
Begin with playful connection
At Alkimia, we are big proponents of the 'connection before content' mantra from Kaospilot. Our concept of connection is dualistic in nature.
First, facilitators must form a relationship with the group of learners. That means understanding the unique nexus which makes up every individual and meeting them where they are at. These factors can include knowledge, social, professional and emotional.
Secondly, it is important to cultivate and promote connections between the learners present. A safe space to learn and fail requires trust. Overall, this promotes personal connection as a priority and ultimately encourages learners to take ownership of the content, subject or discipline, for themselves and others present.
We believe in 'play not PowerPoint' and often use activities from the world of improv, serious play, theatre and art to help learners connect.
Here’s one exercise I’ve found helpful to kick-start learner connection:
The Portrait Activity - This is a fun and intentional icebreaker where learners have to draw a portrait of someone else in their group in 10 seconds. The catch? They can’t look at their paper or lift their pen!
They won't be masterpieces but instead the group start building connection and curiosity, and get eased into the idea that things won't be perfect at their first attempt and that that's ok.
This can be layered with inviting the 'artists' to pose curious questions to 'their muse' and reflection about which portrait is their favourite and why.
Set the conditions
Building on connection, taking time to set the conditions for learning is just as vital.
This means establishing how you will try to work together with the learners, outline the learning approach you will explore and how learners will collaborate with each other by clarifying expectations.
One of the learning cycles that we often use as it aligns with the concept of productive failure is 'Act-Learn-Adapt-Repeat' rather than the traditional 'Teach-Learn-Perform'.
Making these expectations explicit can make people feel like they are held in some way – providing a safe place to fall and bounce back up again.
We often remind learners that we're here to learn, not 'perform'.
A call to adventure
Last but not least, connecting learners with their why is a key part to our process. This can only occur when you set the learner as the hero of their learning journey.
Empowering learners in this way means helping them understand what they are meant to be learning; what skills, knowledge and mindsets they will have the opportunity to develop; and letting them know what challenges they may face moving forward.
The attitudes cultivated here form the foundation of their hero’s story and will arm them for moments in their learning journey that require more complexity and where mistakes might happen more often.
By challenging learners with a call to adventure, the way we frame falling makes a difference to how individuals respond and supports them to 'bounce back' and continue learning.