Rethinking Intelligence: Why Is My Student Struggling?

April 14, 2023 byAlyssa Austin

5 min to read

A father is helping his son study online

When working with students, whether as a new or a seasoned Learning Coach, a vast amount of worry and apprehension about learning can surface. Questions like, “Why is my student struggling?” or “Why does it take so long for my student to understand this?” are all incredibly common and natural concerns that Learning Coaches might have for their student.

Although these are valid concerns, they point to a trend in how people often think about learning: that students should “get” things right away. It is ingrained in our culture that success in school is based on intelligence, and that intelligence is something you either have or you don’t have.

This is not the case! Rather, intelligence is something that looks different for everybody and every student. Read on to learn more about how intelligence may manifest in your student, and how to ultimately help your student with their schoolwork and find success in the classroom.

Challenging What it Means for Students to Be “Intelligent”

Perhaps a more accurate way to look at intelligence is to think about it as something gained through hard work and struggle. Children are expected to practice, practice, practice, until they master a skill. This means that we should change our frame of thought and our folk theory to see struggle as a good thing.

Struggling can teach children to work hard for something and to stick with it. This helps them develop emotional strength and perseverance. When they reach their goal, kids should be complimented for working so hard. With this approach to learning, the focus is on not giving up, which is the road to success and to building personal grit.

The way we think about struggle affects our behavior as students, teachers, and Learning Coaches. If we think of struggle as an indicator of low intelligence, then students could feel bad about themselves if they struggle. With this mindset, teachers could worry that they failed to teach the material well. And Learning Coaches or parents become concerned that they neglected to provide the support their student needed.

Instead, why not consider changing how we think about struggle? If we redefine struggle as an indicator of strength and recognize that it teaches students to face down challenges, then we would view challenges that students face as positive experiences. After all, our goal is not just to teach students academic knowledge, but to also teach them skills that will assist them in all areas. Helping kids learn to overcome difficulties is a lesson that will last a lifetime—imagine that!

Embracing Other Types of Intelligence

Another helpful mindset adjustment when it comes to challenging the meaning of intelligence is realizing that there are so many ways for a student to be intelligent. For example, some students are “body smart,” meaning that they can process and convey information with their body in a highly elevated way. Other students may be word smart (verbal-linguistic), logic smart (logical-mathematical), or music smart (auditory-musical) — there are many other types of intelligences to be considered and none of them is “better” than another; they are just different.

A Learning Coach helping his online student with her assignments.

Why Is My Student Struggling in School?

Despite an adjusted perception of what it means to struggle and a renewed understanding of why struggling might actually be a good thing, the question still remains: Why is my student coming up against these challenges?

The reality is, there are many reasons that your student may be struggling with a specific class, subject, or assignment. Some of these reasons could be:

Loss of interest in the topic
Lack of understanding of the topic
Learning disorder (such as ADHD, ADD, dyslexia or autism)
Response to a big change or issue happening outside of school (at home, in social circles, personal life, etc.)

How Can I Support my Child if They’re Struggling in School

It’s a natural inclination to want to help your child when you see them struggling. Whether it’s “My child is hard on themselves” or “My child struggles with school,” your response as their parent or Learning Coach is valid. If your student is experiencing challenges as they relate to school and schoolwork, here are some actions you can take:

Meet with their teachers to see if educators are observing challenges and possible causes.
Look into tutoring or extra help for subject-specific support.
Support them with homework needs. Sometimes even just listening can help them get over a motivation or frustration hump.
Uphold healthy routines at home.
Make sure they are getting enough sleep.
Be an advocate for them. Encourage autonomy, self-belief, and support them in whatever way they ask (or that you observe might be most helpful.

So, if you find yourself thinking, “My child is struggling in school, what do I do?” The answer might be less involved than you’d think. The most important thing you can do is remain a pillar of support and not put the mantle on yourself to fix their problems.