Daniel Wong

Students’ Fear of Failure Begins With the Teacher

Updated on January 5, 2026 By

newspaper cutaway

Last week, I wrote an article for TODAY Newspaper entitled “Success in spite of school, not because of it.”

I received many comments, both online and in person, about my view that if the education system continues the way it is, we are headed down the path of mediocrity. Now is the time to begin paving the way toward excellence and greatness.

The most insightful remark I received came from a good friend of mine who’s a teacher.

She responded to my observation that “schools generally teach students to fear failure, to be obsessively competitive and to be a passive learner.”

She wrote:

… the fear of failure begins in the teacher. That’s the root of the issue in our education system. One of the indicators to measure a teacher’s performance is the student’s results.

More often than not, the teacher is blinded to the student’s fear of failure because it is more daunting to come to terms with the fact that the fear stems from us [teachers].

When we deny our own condition, we fail to see what is happening in the student because it reminds us of who … we really are.

It’s entirely true that what gets measured gets done. But when it comes to measuring our teachers’ performance, are we measuring the right things?

What the Education System Can Teach Us About Doing Things Right

Updated on January 6, 2026 By

factory

Given that many of us go through 12 years or 16 years—or even longer than that—of formal education, it’s no surprise that most of us have strong feelings about the education system.

I’m no exception. It’s these strong feelings that compelled me to write a book entitled The Happy Student: 5 Steps to Academic Fulfillment and Success, which aims to help students find new meaning and motivation in the pursuit of academic success.

The public education system as a factory

The public education system today, as it exists all over the world, is a relic of the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th century.

It was during the Industrial Revolution that many factories were built. Large numbers of factories meant that large numbers of workers were needed.

It was a specific type of worker that was required—one who was obedient, compliant, and who didn’t do too much thinking for him or herself.

In order to efficiently produce workers like this, students were treated like a commodity. Public education was the “factory”; the obedient worker was the “product.”

The “factory” concept of public education is still around today.

Students are brought to the start of the assembly line at age 6 (or even younger), and the “product” is expected to be completed by their late teens or early 20s.

Students are “processed” in batches. Quality control is done in the form of exams and standardized tests.

In addition, the factory largely determines what kinds of products can be manufactured: engineers, doctors, lawyers, economists, teachers, technicians, etc.

No product that’s too weird or out-of-the-ordinary, please!

Education needs a revolution too

The Industrial Revolution was a world-changing phenomenon that made it necessary for public education to be set up as a one-size-fits-all factory.

But times have changed. The Digital Revolution means that gradual, evolutionary changes in education simply won’t cut it.

We need a revolution in education, too.

We need people who are persistent, proactive and passionate—but we’re not going to develop people who possess those traits through our current system.

By and large, people who are persistent, proactive and passionate have become that way despite the “factory” model of education, not because of it. They’ve overcome the odds!

The whole point of this article

I’m no expert on education policy, but I know that things have to change.

The “factory” model was founded on the following principles:

  • It’s easy to run
  • It’s easy to administer
  • It’s easy to quantify results

My whole point is this: Easier isn’t always better. Not when it comes to the education system, and not when it comes to our personal lives.

Let’s choose the better way, regardless of whether or not it’s easier.