Are you “comfortable with feeling uncomfortable” when learning new or difficult things?

As students readjust to school after two years of pandemic learning, many are striving to rebuild their academic confidence. Some educators believe this is a crucial moment for teachers and parents to keep their distance when learning becomes difficult, and to be explicit about the fact that the challenges students may be facing can offer great rewards. How often do you struggle with challenging school work? Do you get frustrated or overwhelmed? Or do you embrace the opportunity to deepen your learning? In general, how often do you struggle with school work? Has it felt more burdensome in the last couple of years? What subjects do you find the most difficult? How do you respond when faced with challenging assignments? Is it easy for you to admit that you don’t understand something? How willing are you to ask for help? Do you wish you were better at either at asking for help, or having the confidence to try to solve problems on your own? Share a specific time when you felt challenged or disheartened while trying to learn something new. What emotions and physical sensations did you experience? How did you get through it? How did you feel once the knowledge “clicked,” if it ever did? What tools — for example, picturing a challenge as a “learning pit” — do you use when you encounter difficult work? How do they help? As the article explains, some researchers believe that students learn new concepts more fully, and retain the knowledge longer, when they engage in “productive failure” — grappling with a problem before getting instruction on exactly how to handle it. Do you believe failure can be an instrumental part of learning? Has it been true in your experience? John Hattie, a researcher who spent 15 years studying the things that influence learning, said that one key factor is striving for a challenge, and not “just doing your best.” Do you agree? Should people constantly push themselves beyond their limits to be better, even if it likely means pain, discomfort or defeat? Why or why not?