My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.  – Abraham Lincoln

Our public schools are preparing young people for a world that doesn’t yet exist.  The accelerated pace of change in the world continues to place significant demands on our education system.  The specific skills required for future employment, are in large part, unknown.  From autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence, many of the jobs of tomorrow don’t match the education of today.

We are required to prepare our students to be learners, to have a growth mindset, and to have grit.  The most successful adults in the future will learn to “fail fast” – and to learn from their failures.  It isn’t about the specific skills; it’s about learning through building on skills.

As educators we are compelled to provide both a strong academic foundation AND the life skills to continue to learn and grow.  Failure isn’t an end, but the beginning of the growth process.