ERIC Number: EJ1148642
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 6
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2167-8669
EISSN: N/A
A Comprehensive Internationalization Challenge: Learning from Failure or, When Your Best Just Isn't Good Enough
Patton, Carl V.
International Research and Review, v6 n1 p10-15 Fall 2016
Why did our idea not work out? How did a program fail? Why did we get unintended consequences? Who is to blame? Could it be that our best just isn't good enough? There are many reasons policies, programs and projects fail. Failure can be informative if shared. This means that professionals should report on failures as well as successes. However, few professionals will admit their mistakes since failures are seldom rewarded. Moreover, many failures that could provide useful guidance are not shared because most journals have a success bias. Oftentimes, however, a policy failure where "NO" was the answer can provide useful information. In this article the author urges readers to accept that humans fail, but if professionals are to learn from failure, improve skills, and manage strategic change, it is necessary to understand why policies and programs fail. As difficult as it is, professionals need to have the courage to speak truth to power when things are not going right. Author Carl Patton argues that if there were easier access to internationalization ideas that failed, other educators could more rapidly improve their professional competence. Patton closes the article by saying that failure is inevitable, but the question is how will colleagues respond to one another, support one another, and move forward.
Descriptors: Failure, Program Effectiveness, Success, Information Dissemination, Educational Theories, Transformative Learning, Learning Strategies
Phi Beta Delta, Honor Society for International Scholars. Administration Building Rooms 148 & 150, 5500 University Parkway, California State University, San Bernardino, CA 92407. Tel: 909-537-5018; Fax: 909-537-7458; e-mail: staff@phibetadelta.org; Web site: http://www.phibetadelta.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A