Failure often gets a bad rap in academics, but it’s the best teacher for student growth and long-term success.
When we embrace mistakes—both big and small—we build resilience, sharpen problem-solving skills, and learn to innovate.
Schools tend to chase perfect scores, yet real learning happens when students tackle challenges, adapt, and push past setbacks.
By encouraging a healthy attitude toward failure, educators and parents can unlock every student’s potential and set them up for lasting achievement.
Why Taking 100 Bad Photos Might Be the Smartest Thing You Do
A film photography professor at the University of Florida, Jerry Uelsmann, conducted an experiment that quietly reveals one of the biggest secrets to learning anything well, whether it’s art, algebra, or acing your GCSEs.
On the first day of class, he divided his students into two groups. One group was graded on quantity: the more photos they submitted, the higher their grade. The other group was graded on quality: they only needed to produce one shot, but it had to be gallery-worthy.
By term’s end, the “quantity” students—snapping, experimenting, failing, and learning—produced the strongest portfolios, while the “perfect shot” group overthought and improved the least.
The Hidden Truth: Progress Comes From Doing
What the experiment proved was simple, but profound:
Perfection doesn’t lead to progress. Practice does.
The quantity group learned more about light, angles, and storytelling by letting themselves fail—and iterating on every “bad” shot.
What This Means for Our Children
It’s tempting—especially in education—to aim for perfection on the first go. We want the perfect essay, the flawless test score, the polished project.
But real learning is messy.
At Redbridge Tuition, we encourage our students to try, to err, to ask questions—and to try again. Every “wrong” answer is a step toward understanding.
So if your child struggles with something new—whether it’s algebra or Shakespeare—remind them of those photography students. And remind yourself:
Sometimes the best thing you can do… is take 100 imperfect shots.
Why Is Failure Important for Students?
Failure plays a crucial role in student development, as mistakes highlight exactly where growth can occur.
Having tutored for years, I’ve identified four key components that help students move forward:
- Build rapport: A trusting relationship makes it safe to try—and fail.
- Assess current understanding: Diagnose gaps and misconceptions.
- Create a clear learning plan: Map out structured, goal-oriented steps.
- Foster critical thinking: Reflect on mistakes as opportunities, not dead ends.
If a student feels crushed by failure or a tutor is too harsh, confidence takes a hit and learning stalls. But when mistakes are embraced as stepping stones, progress follows naturally.
How A Skilled Tutor Approaches Mistakes
A skilled tutor can not only spot the mistakes a student makes, but really get to the heart of what went wrong.
Here’s a peek into how my mind works when a student slips up on this question:
Question: Sophie buys 3 pencils at 45 p each and 2 pens at £1.20 each. She pays with a £5 note. How much change does she get?
Student’s answer: £2.25
- Multiplication slip-up: Maybe they mis-multiplied 3 × 45 p or 2 × £1.20—and never caught it.
- Missing an item: They might’ve added the pencils but forgotten the pens.
- Mixing pounds and pence: Not converting pence to pounds (or vice-versa) can skew the total.
- What even is change? Some students haven’t linked “change” to “amount given minus cost.”
- Borrowing blues: Even with £3.75 correct, borrowing across zeros can trip them up.
Once I’ve zeroed in on the root cause, I design targeted drills—first isolating that one skill, then reintegrating it into full problems. If the mistake resurfaces, I know exactly where to dig deeper.
Protecting Children from Failure vs Preparing Children for Failure
Chandra Otterson’s essay “Preparing vs. Protecting Children from Mistakes, Anxiety and Failure” unlocks a kinder, braver way to help children grow. Rather than shielding them, Otterson asks us to step back, encourage them and let them stumble a little. It sounds terrifying, but it’s also liberating for you and your child.
Imagine you’re at the playground, holding your toddler’s hand as they edge toward the top of the slide. Their little face is a swirl of excitement and terror.
Your heart pounds, and you’re ready to swoop in the moment they flinch. We love our children so fiercely that any hint of discomfort feels like an emergency. But what if you loosen your grip? What if you trust them to feel that fear—and to find the courage to slide down on their own?
Otterson reminds us that in those early years, protection is vital. I think it was Jordan Peterson who said a child who is 2 or younger is always right – their cries for attention are crucial for a parent to attend to.
But somewhere between toddlerhood and high school, our role must shift. When we rush in every time our children scrape a knee—literally or emotionally—we inadvertently tell them, “I don’t believe you can handle this.” Over time, that message seeps deep into their self-worth.
Children need practice at tolerating discomfort. Think back to the first time you faced a genuine challenge: maybe it was an awkward conversation, a math problem that felt impossible, or a stage fright moment. You probably felt your stomach flip and your mouth dry up. And yet, if you pushed through, you discovered something powerful: anxiety and mistakes don’t kill you; they teach you. They build resilience.
Otterson suggests a simple mindset shift: “Prepare, don’t protect.” Next time your child frets over a spelling test or feels shy at a birthday party, try this:
Listen first. Instead of shooting into problem-solving mode, take a breath and hear them. What’s the story they’re telling themselves?
Ask gentle questions. “What exactly worries you? What part can you control?” You’re their thinking partner, not their knight in shining armour.
You might like to watch our Education Lounge Podcast on failure:
Model your process. Children learn by watching. “I’m nervous about this presentation, so I’m going to practice in front of the mirror first.” Boom—resilience in action.
Every small victory—whether it’s climbing the monkey bars, completing a tricky assignment, or speaking up in class—stacks up. Your child learns: “I can handle this.” Even when they fail, they learn how to dust themselves off and try again.
Of course, preparation doesn’t mean abandonment. Imagine you’re teaching someone to swim. You don’t drop them in the deep end without a flotation vest—you stay close enough to catch them, but far enough away to let them paddle. That’s the sweet spot of parenting to prepare.
So here’s the heart of Otterson’s message: we can’t outsource resilience. If we swoop in at the first sign of trouble, our children never get to build the muscle of coping. They need us to be supportive coaches, not frantic lifeguards. By choosing to prepare rather than protect, we gift them something far more valuable than harmlessness—we give them the confidence to embrace life’s messy, exhilarating ride.
Conclusion
It may seem difficult to watch your child take their own decisions, make mistakes in learning, and potentially even get hurt, these failures are crucial components to learning.
Students need to learn resilience, embrace failure, and learn from their mistakes. Tutors and educators alike, should also build up a thick skin to their student’s failures, and work systematically to help their students get to the next level in their learning.