I’ll boil it down to a few pillars that constantly derail students without their realizing it. Over time students can develop a negative psychological belief about their own academic abilities. Emotions reinforce belief, and the results compound into a negative self image and lowered expectations of success.
Pillar 1 Minimal physical and behavioral structure to support consistent work:
The environment where learners are expected to produce either hardly exists or is not enough for the individual’s needs. Establish a baseline organization of space and enough supplies, at home and at school so that no environmental barriers or lack of materials blocks performance.
Pillar 2 Time management:
This is an issue, particularly pertaining to getting work completed on time, specifically because it is a LEARNED skill. Only a handful of people are born with the innate ability to plan and manage time expertly. When no system is in place to track deadlines, no strategies exist for completing assignments, and no repeatable pattern of studying is in place, the student gets overwhelmed.
Pillar 3 Focus issues when studying or in lecture:
Attending to information, however it’s delivered, is one challenge. The second is working with the structure of information; which ideas are most important, what is a supporting detail, and what might be interesting but not relevant to the main point. Learners easily over think details and mistakenly prioritize details while ignoring themes.
There is a secondary effect caused by untrained or poor focus and information processing. The emotional stress of feeling ill equipped creates aversion to academic tasks in general. Students find it hard to begin tasks, imagines an assignment is harder than it is, and develops a general pattern of avoidance which leads to poor performance, reinforcing the self-image of being a “bad” student. This creates a psychological wall.
Thankfully, today many people are being told they have these challenges, and there are proven strategies and skill development to combat this negative cycle. Healthy routines like daily exercise, and quiet time develop self-regulation. Using person-centered thinking to meet students’ individual needs guides the creation of spaces, materials, systems, and social/emotional support that moves learners toward greater autonomy, ownership of their learning, and a sense of achievement they truly earn. And, when fully implemented in the home space, these activities quickly benefit everyone.
Pillar 4 Consistency & Maintenance
The first three pillars offer information and strategies to help students reach their innate potential. More importantly, they help promote the behaviors and resulting maturity needed for high school and later life. The time invested in creating spaces, systems and routines will be wasted if they aren’t easy to maintain. Consistently updating and adjusting the supports and habits is more than a response to increased demands. It’s part of the skill itself. A caregiver’s best tool for encouraging developmental behaviors is modeling those behaviors themselves. By creating a living example of someone who uses routines, structure, and self-knowledge to motivate their own growth, parents and other supportive elders create a culture that values learning, rewards good habits, and celebrates everyone’s achievements.
I’ve had students with very powerful minds. I recognize when thinking moves quickly and scans new ideas at lightning speed. Too often by the time I see a student, this very gift has become a liability. Without a well considered method, or software if you will, to regulate that raw power learners flounder. Worse, they may blame themselves and start that cycle of self-sabotage I described above.
The gifts a child brings to their educational experience are just that—gifts! And we all have gifts, and we all use them in different contexts. Creating strategies, habits, and structures to develop and maintain those gifts is the platform that the 4 pillars support. Learn more about building stable, strong executive functions for student success.
