The Skillful Teacher

Create Situations in Which Students Succeed
Success is addictive, failure demoralizing. The more students suc-
ceed, the more their resistance may weaken. One good idea is to find
a failure-proof task for students to complete at the first class meet-
ing. An early experience of unexpected success can reduce the level
of resistance enough to create a connection with the learning
process. Such failure-proof activities are, admittedly, sometimes hard
to discover. Indeed, you may regard these as particularly trivial. But,
from a student’s perspective, to be able to experience a small 
success—particularly if she has convinced herself that a subject is
beyond her and that therefore there is no point in her trying—can
make all the difference. Nothing is more heartening or effective in
decreasing resistance than to feel one is moving forward successfully.
Connected to this, it is also important to acknowledge students’
efforts, to congratulate them on their progress, and to stress what-
ever is meritorious in their performance. Remember that what may
to you seem like a very small incremental step forward may, to the
learner concerned, represent a progression of enormous significance.
Any sense that we are moving forward and building momentum
helps lessen our fear of the unknown.