Teachers share the common heart of concern, of experience, of knowledge and it is this same heart they share with the students in school and in the world. In order to make the classroom most accessible, the most important thing is perception.

During one of my beautiful teaching experiences, I met a kindergartner who was nervous because she though she wasn’t a “good artist” or was unable to draw because of that she thought she would get an “F”. She was asking me to give her directions on how to do the project. The project I invited them to wasn’t about following directions but about discovery using chalk pastels. The fear of failure was blocking her from experimenting. I’m not sure if I did the correct thing by telling her she already got an “A” on the assignment before even beginning it. But that is what my instincts relayed to me and without delay I told her that. Hearing this new information gave her the confidence to proceed and have fun while art making without nervousness or fearing that she will fail. When expectations were removed she was able to enjoy playing with these magically-powdery-colorful inventions we call soft chalk pastels.

Some of the most common responses to failure is hatred, uncertainty and self doubt. Failure is a huge part of life and learning, which usually visits us during some of the most inconvenient times of our lives. Times which we fail are the times of being soft and gentle to ourselves. Its conditioning that directs us to respond with adversity, hatred, indifference and dismay. We close down when instead we should open up and address and confirm what’s happening.

As teachers, it is important to understand and clarify our own emotional responses before we teach someone else. If we’re addressing someone else’s failure and haven’t confronted ours, we’re setting up the separation of us and them. This separation is the basis of cruelty and suffering within ourselves.