Seeing Failure Through Teachers’ Eyes: What Makes a Student Failure Memorable?

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 7:45 am - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Emotional Landscapes of Teaching: Resilience, Labor, and Support

Abstract

Student failure is an inevitable part of teaching and learning, yet certain cases fade from memory while others stand out. While prior research has examined teacher responses to student failure, relatively little attention has been paid to teacher’s personal interpretation of failure. This paper addresses this gap by centering on teachers’ recollection of memorable student failures and understanding what makes certain failures more memorable than others. Drawing on interviews with 70 in-service high school teachers, it uses the Critical Incident Technique to examine teachers’ recollections of memorable student failures. Findings reveal that memorable failures are shaped by three factors and offer implications for teacher professional development, highlighting the need for equity-centered and culturally responsive approaches to understanding student failure.

Authors

• Xinyu S. Pan, Bank Street College of Education

• Xiaolin Ou, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Mincong Wu, Teachers College, Columbia University