The Article
Michigan State University Distinguished Professor Jere Brophy explains how to determine when a student falls into the "failure syndrome" category and gives strategies to cope with this problem. "Failure syndrome" is a term that teachers commonly use to describe students who approach assignments with very low expectations of success and tend to give up at early signs of difficulty. These students fail needlessly because they do not invest their best efforts, beginning half-heartedly and giving up when challenged.

Discussion
Failure syndrome develops predominately through failed learning experiences in social settings. Most children begin school with enthusiasm, but over time some find it difficult to have their performance monitored in classrooms where failure carries the danger of public humiliation. Eventually such students abandon serious attempts to master tasks and concentrate instead on preserving their self-esteem in the eyes of themselves and others. Brophy summarizes studies that found the most effective teachers with such students insisted that these students put forth their best efforts and provided them with the help they needed to succeed. The teachers tended to assume that demands made on students were appropriate because the problems stemmed from the student’s pessimism rather than from lack of ability. Students who saw their abilities as fixed and limited could benefit from teachers who reinforced the view that ability can be developed through practice. Such teachers act more as a resource than a judge, focus on the learning process rather than outcome, react to errors as natural and useful, stress effort over ability, and stimulate achievement through intrinsic motivational strategies.

What It Means To You
Because emphasis on competition and social comparison will increase performance anxiety and possibly lead to failure syndrome, Brophy suggests avoiding such practices as publicly grading on a curve or posting grades. Instead, give student private feedback in terms of individual success rather than comparison with classmates. Teachers’ effectiveness in helping students with failure syndrome can be enhanced if they model techniques for persisting in the face of frustration or failure.

For More Information
To read further on failure syndrome, see Brophy, J., "Failure Syndrome Students," ERIC Digest, May 1998, EDO-PS-98-2.

< back to 1999 ed-Research Reports