Failing in school is not a reflection of failure in life

From the day my daughter started to crawl, the world became her playground. Where ever her imagination took her, she flowed. Each object she could reach or come across was new — her curiosity was full blast.

As the excited dad, I followed her around with a giant smile. “Look at her go!” — I wanted her to explore the home, touch things, push things — test her strength and follow her curiosity.

As she started to walk and run — I ran along with her. Not to slow her down, but to catch her if she falls, pick her up if needed or wipe the temporary tears away on her journey to conquer the couch!

There was no failure.

The concept of failing was introduced with a bad report card for the first time in Grade 1 — for the first time, she was told that she was not good at something. She now had a place on the ‘academic’ scorecard ladder. Some of her friends were below her, and some above her. From that day onwards, the focus turned to moving up this invisible ladder — fixing and improving her became a priority for everyone, including me.

You can’t fail at life, but for a good part of their lives, our kids’ lives are in a school — with a teacher whose job is to help them get as high as possible on that ladder — the TOP, that’s the success.

Failure was designed by a system that needed a way to funnel employees for jobs.

Kids don’t fail.

We focus on continuous improvement at Schoolio — one subject, one grade doesn’t reflect your potential.

Our purpose as educators is to run beside the student — give them access to the world — let them make their choices, fall, bump into ideas that challenge them — find meaning in a changing world. Our job is to run beside them — lift them back up when needed, wipe their tear when asked and encourage them to keep running.