OOPS! THE CRITICAL ROLE OF RISK-TAKING AND FAILURE IN EDUCATIONAL CHANGE AND TEACHER EDUCATION Maya Wizel Middlebury College (USA) Hacking Education (Israel) Abstract Traditional educational systems need to change. They need to be more innovative. However, innovation carries a risk—it sometimes fails. Qualitative research conducted with teachers who changed and implemented their pedagogy in innovative ways (“hacks”) in their classroom formed the foundation of a new framework to meet this need—teachers as “hackers.” These teachers’ characteristic habits and behaviors contribute to their success in creating islands of change in public schools. The participants volunteered their stories of pedagogical failures—class plans that flopped, technological tools that fizzled, and projects that fell short of their learning goals. They not only shared their cases, but also approached those failures as a natural and inherent part of becoming adaptive educators. This paper explores the role of failure and risk-taking in educational settings with the aim to encourage rethinking and opening our practices to development by making mistakes. As one participant described innovative pedagogy, “You have to be willing to fail in public.” Keywords: Risk-taking, change, failure, innovation, education. 1. Introduction In lectures, conferences, and educators’ professional development sessions where current research regarding teachers who hack their pedagogy is discussed, the issue of risk-taking and failure is often the most controversial. It raises questions and evokes emotional discussion. Attendees verbalize, for example, “We do not have a culture of risk-taking in schools” and “How can we discuss failure when we discuss education? We’re talking about kids’ lives.” The goal of this paper is to shed some light on that intersection of innovation, risk-taking, failure, and learning in public education settings. 1.1. Innovation, risk-taking, and failure Failure is a complex phenomenon (Edwards & Ashkenazy, 2018). It used to be described as the end of things; now, it is part of the way forward (Loscalzo, 2014). In our constantly changing world, we are slowly shifting from talking about successes toward discussing failures (Loscalzo, 2014; Wang et al., 2018) and the often-opposing relationship between error and innovation (Bauer & Harteis, 2012). For instance, in the entrepreneurship field, most innovation studies are still based on success stories despite indications that “the experience of failure may be a substantial source for the improvement of entrepreneurship knowledge and skills after a failure” (Atsan, 2016). Clearly, as Loscalzo (2014) explained, “Failure has at least as important a role in our experience, education, and professional development as success—if we would only learn from it.” A discussion of failure is also about learning, developing, and improving future outcomes (Atsan, 2016; Edwards & Ashkanazy, 2018; van Woerkom, 2012). “Errors can be seen as a natural by-product of active learning: As learners actively explore the environment, errors will inevitably occur. Conversely, the dogma of zero-error tolerance that exists in many organizations may unintentionally promote risk avoidance” (van Woerkom, 2012, p. 130). In 2012, an organization in Mexico founded “Fuckup Nights,” events that have since spread internationally (Birrane, 2017). During these activities, individuals from diverse backgrounds share their stories of professional failure. These tales both inspire the audience and support the idea that any change or innovative action—as in any action in an age of uncertainty—risks failure. Such events, as well as other means that emphasize learning from failure, transform failure from something hidden and shame-ridden to a legitimate outcome. Once failure is legitimatized, it is possible to learn from and improve upon it. DOI: 10.36315/2019v1end017 Education and New Developments 2019 79