K12 Practitioners’ Perceptions of Learning from Failure, Creativity, and Systems Thinking: a Collective Case Study

This article presents the results of a collective case study exploring how K12 practitioners perceive the interaction of systems thinking, creativity, and learning from failure within their professional practice. In order to identify K12 practitioners who were well-versed in systems thinking, we targeted students within an instructional design and technology graduate program that included a course on human performance improvement (HPI). At the conclusion of the semester, all students in the course were invited to participate in an individual, semi-structured interview where they discussed the relationship among these three concepts within their professional practice. Participants described how learning from failure and creativity manifest within their practice and through systems thinking. Additionally, they identified that learning from failure and creativity are crucial components of problem solving. Further insights for how these three concepts can impact professional practice are addressed.