Towards a better acceptance of failures
Auguste ou Pierrot? questions the acceptance of failure, within education’s right-or-wrong paradigm. In French circus, the Auguste or ‘‘white clown’’, is traditionally dignified while the ‘‘red-nosed clown’’, the Pierrot, is grotesque. The reference to this duo, which separates seriousness and lightness, draws on Winnicott’s True– vs. False-self theory, stating that an early over-attunement to authority can lead to self-dissociation and hinder the ability to live authentically.
