Identifying and shifting educators’ failure pedagogical mindsets through reflective practices

In this work, we explored how educators’ views on failure shape their teaching—and how those views can change over time. In the first part of the study, we talked with educators in schools and museums to better understand how they think about failure and how it shows up in their day-to-day practice. We found that many educators held narrow or fixed views of failure, often seeing it as something that only learners experience rather than something shared. In the second part of the study, we examined how museum educators’ participation in a reflective, video-based professional development experience influenced their thinking. As educators watched and discussed real moments from their own practice, many began to shift their perspective—moving from seeing failure as a learner-only issue to recognizing it as something educators experience, shape, and navigate alongside youth. Together, these findings suggest that helping educators reflect on their own relationship with failure can open up richer, more connected learning environments where both educators and young people grow through making and problem-solving.