The Productive Failure - Sunanda Singh Rathore

Assignment 1 – (The Productive Failure)

When Students Decoded ‘If’: A Journey Through Struggle and Discovery

While preparing to teach Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If’, I paused before making my lesson design, wondering how to begin. It is a beautiful poem. I wanted my children to experience each and every emotion portrayed in the poem.

So, I thought to start writing notes on the board. I remembered Manu Kapur’s idea of Productive Failure—how learning becomes deeper when students are allowed to struggle before being given answers. That day, I decided not to “explain” rather just simply write the word ‘IF’ on the board and ask them what comes to their mind when they see this small, two-letter word.

The students were perplexed yet curious. No one knew what was next… Hands slowly began to rise. Someone said, imagination; another one said hope; one felt advice, another said, “It sounds strict.” Someone quietly added, failure. I smiled and wrote their words on the board. The word IF had already started unfolding its meaning through their minds.

After a few responses, I told the context—Kipling writing to his son in a world full of uncertainty. Suddenly, lines found meaning.

“Triumph and Disaster” were no longer vocabulary—they were life moments.

The poem transformed from a list of “If you can…” to a quiet message about character, patience, and dignity.

What Productive Failure Looked Like in Real Time:

At first, students reacted based on their instinct, not with careful thought. Wrong answers were welcomed and reused as stepping stones. Students started to comprehend lines after lines—feeling → confusion → connection → clarity. Children did not hear the lecture; instead, they built it on their understanding.

This approach helps students move from just seeking answers to thinking critically and reflecting on the meaning and significance of what they’re learning.

I realised that explaining too early kills curiosity. When students were given time to think, they became more curious and began asking questions. Instead of asking “What is the main message of the poem?” or “Who is the poet?” or “What is the moral?”, they began asking, “Why does the poet ask us to smile even when we lose?”

That shift—from hunting for answers to thinking about life—was the real success of this approach.

That day, ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling was not “taught.” It was discovered—slowly, imperfectly, and beautifully. And perhaps that is what Manu Kapur truly meant—let learning begin with a stumble, not a definition.

Assignment 2 – (The Productive Failure)

Mastering Adverbs through Inquiry-Based Learning

Grade Level: VI

Topic: Understanding and Using Adverbs

Duration: Two sessions of 40 minutes each

Learning Objective: To enable students to identify, form, and use adverbs correctly in sentences, improving their writing fluency and descriptive language skills.

Background:

During a review of student writing samples, I observed that Grade VI students struggled with the correct usage of adverbs. Common issues included confusing adverbs with adjectives or using them incorrectly in sentences. This indicated a conceptual gap between understanding the function of adverbs and their application in writing.

Methodology (What did I plan to do):

Session 1 – Exploration Stage:

I gave them a short paragraph with blanks and asked them to fill them with words that described the verbs (e.g., She sang ___). The task was to make the sentences more descriptive without any explicit instruction about adverbs.

What did I observe:

Many students used adjectives instead of adverbs or used incorrect forms (e.g., She danced graceful instead of She danced gracefully). This confirmed the initial misconception and created a body of common errors for later reflection.

Session 2 – Reflection and Guided Discovery:

In this session, I began by reading a few incorrect sentences and discussed how we can describe the way she danced. Then, I cleared their confusion about the difference between adjectives and adverbs. After that, I explained what an adverb is and how it functions.

Key Activity: ‘Adverb Factory’

Students received verb cards (e.g., run, read, write) and adverb suffix cards (e.g., -ly, -wise). They worked in pairs to create adverbs by combining the verb cards with the suffix cards, discussing the changes in meaning and usage.

Overall Finding:

The average number of errors per student dropped, demonstrating a marked and immediate improvement in the application of adverbs.

Teacher’s Reflection:

This activity reinforced the power of hands-on discovery in teaching abstract grammar concepts. The errors in the pre-test were essential; they created a need to know that was resolved by the engaging, physical act of “Adverb Factory.” Students moved from simply guessing the correct form to applying a concrete, rule-based understanding of adverbs. This approach successfully fostered a deeper, more confident grasp of a challenging concept.

Student Feedback:

“I never knew adverbs were so cool! I can describe things better now.” – Yashika

“I liked creating adverbs with suffixes. It helped me understand how they work.” – Arush

By using a similar approach to the one described in The Productive Failure by Manu Kapur, we can empower students to take ownership of their learning and develop a deeper understanding of complex concepts.

Assignment 3 – (The Productive Failure)

Recently, I taught “The Two Miler” to my seventh-grade class. The story depicts a long race and explores the ups and downs that the runner faces, including pain, effort, and ultimately, triumph.

Instead of explaining the whole story beforehand, I decided to try something different. I asked the students to read the first two pages and create a graphic organiser to show what the title of the story suggests and to predict what might happen next.

I noticed that many students focused primarily on surface details, mentioning only the characters, images, races, and so on. Few of them considered why the story truly matters. They provided various conclusions—some incorrect, some partially correct. That’s okay, because as Manu Kapur explains, when students work on something without full guidance, the struggle they encounter can be productive.

The real challenge for me as a teacher was to help them look deeper, to understand that the story is not simply about running two miles. It’s about patience, courage, perseverance, and finishing strong even when faced with pain.

In line with Manu Kapur’s concept of Productive Failure, I wanted my students to go beyond just counting laps or describing actions; I wanted them to recognize the emotional aspects of the race—the internal struggle between the runner’s mind and body, and how he learns to overcome fear and pain.

We read through the chapter again, taking small pauses to try and understand what each runner was thinking. We explored how they felt when the runner’s legs trembled and he wondered if he could continue. We considered what it meant when the crowd cheered, while his mind was elsewhere.

The students began to see the deeper structure of the story: how the race wasn’t just about speed, but about endurance, inner strength, and mind over body.

This mirrors Manu Kapur’s point that experts look for deep structure; novices often stay at surface level. They connected the story’s theme to their own lives. The struggle in the story became the model for their learning.

What We Learned from This Process:

• Wrong guesses were not failures. They were starting points for thinking.

• Struggle drew attention because students made guesses, they remembered the story better and asked stronger questions.

• A deeper understanding emerged. Instead of “He won the race,” students realised “He overcame the thought of self-doubt.”

I realised that failure isn’t falling behind—it’s moving one step closer to thinking, to understanding and succeeding.

Assignment - 4

Case Study – Learning Beyond the Surface: Understanding “The Painted Ceiling” through Productive Failure

Introduction:

This case study explores how students of Class 6 engaged with Amy Lowell’s poem “The Painted Ceiling” using the framework of Productive Failure, as described in Kapur’s book Unlocking Deeper Learning through the Science of Failure.

The poem, rich with imagery and layered meaning, serves as an ideal medium to help students move from surface-level understanding (novice) to deep interpretation (expert).

Context:

In a classroom of 30 students, most learners initially focused only on the literal description of the poem — the ceiling, colours, and patterns. They admired the imagery but missed the symbolic meaning — the connection between imagination and inner beauty.

The teacher designed a lesson that allowed students to struggle productively before arriving at the poem’s deeper meaning.

Learning Design:

Phase 1 – Productive Struggle (Failure Phase):

Students were asked: “Why do you think the poet chose to paint the ceiling and not the walls?”

Most students gave simple answers (“because it looks beautiful” or “the poet liked the ceiling”) and got confused when probed further.

This confusion created cognitive dissonance—a key part of productive failure.

Phase 2 – Guided Discussion:

The teacher introduced the idea of seeing differently (from Kapur’s concept: “Experts not only see different things but also see things differently.”)

Students revisited the poem and began linking the ceiling’s painting to the poet’s imagination and inner vision, not just the physical space.

Phase 3 – Knowledge Consolidation:

Students compared two interpretations — one literal and one symbolic — and reflected on how context, prior knowledge, and peer discussion helped them find meaning.

Observation and Findings:

Aspect	Novice Learners	Emerging Experts
Focus	Literal images (colours, shapes)	Symbolic meaning (ceiling as imagination)
Understanding	Surface details	Deep, emotional connection
Use of Prior Knowledge	Limited — focused on what they saw	Linked poem with art, dreams, and creativity
Contextual Recall	Remembered lines but not meanings	Remembered ideas by connecting them to imagery and emotion
Reaction to Failure	Frustrated, unsure	Curious, reflective, and collaborative

Students who initially failed to “get” the poem later reported greater enjoyment and retention. They began seeing literature as layered and meaningful, much like experts do.

Link to Kapur’s Research (Comparative Analysis):

Productive Failure Concept	Application in “The Painted Ceiling” Lesson	Example from Book Pages
Experts vs. Novices	Students moved from seeing “what is painted” to “why it’s painted”	“Experts not only see different things but also see things differently.”
Prior Knowledge	Students used their understanding of art and imagination to interpret symbolism	“Prior knowledge affects the very encoding of what they observe.”
Learning as Language	Literature is seen as a new ‘language’ — students learned to decode poetic symbols	“Each domain has a formal language, with its own grammar and meanings.”
Context and Recall	Discussion and visualisation helped retain meaning	“We encode not just words but also the context in which they are learned.”
Failing to Transfer	Without connecting imagery to meaning, students couldn’t transfer learning	“When learning and testing contexts were different, recall suffered.”

Teacher Reflection:

Initially, students’ struggles seemed like failure, but it became the foundation for deep learning. The process of grappling with confusion encouraged them to:

• Reflect rather than memorize

• Build connections using prior knowledge

• Appreciate literature as a “language of feeling.”

Thus, “failure” was not a setback—it was the first step towards expertise.

Conclusion:

The Class 6 experiment on Amy Lowell’s “The Painted Ceiling” demonstrates how Productive Failure in literature classes can transform passive reading into active meaning-making.

Just as Kapur’s learners in math or science use prior knowledge to reach deeper understanding, literature students can also “see differently” when guided to interpret, question, and reflect.

Suggested Research Title:

Seeing Differently: Applying the Theory of Productive Failure to Literary Interpretation in Class 6 — A Case Study on Amy Lowell’s “The Painted Ceiling”

Assignment 5 – Direct & Indirect Speech Mastery (Grade 7)

This case study tracks the immediate improvement of five students after targeted lessons on Direct and Indirect (Reported) Speech. The goal was to see if focused teaching on grammar rules would quickly improve their accuracy.

The Challenge (The Failure State):

Students struggled primarily with the two main transformation rules of Indirect Speech:

a) Tense Backshift: Changing present tense verbs to past tense (or past to past perfect) when reporting speech.

b) Adverbial Shift: Changing time/place words (e.g., today → that day, here → there).

The Solution (The Intervention):

The students participated in three short, focused intervention sessions over one week:

a) Visual Charts: They used a chart mapping the required tense changes.

b) Drill Practice: They practised converting dialogue from simple Active sentences to Passive Voice.

c) Application: They converted short, realistic conversations into reported speech.

Results:

A 15-item quiz requiring full sentence conversion was administered before (Pre-Test) and after (Post-Test) the lessons. Students showed remarkable improvement in the post-test.

Conclusion:

The data confirmed that most of the students showed significant improvement (an average increase of over 40% in accuracy). The targeted instruction, focusing separately on tense, pronouns, and time words, was effective.

This demonstrates that for Grade 7 grammar, structured, rule-based teaching rapidly enhances the ability to use Direct and Indirect Speech correctly in writing and conversation.

Sunanda Singh Rathore

Sunbeam School Lahartara