How to help a failing student

Abstract

Different aspects of family and school life, as well as individual characteristics of the student are related to academic failure in various degrees. Once it has become evident that a student is failing in study and learning, and the causes of the failure have been identified, the question arises of how to help him/her to overcome the existing difficulties. Although there are some authors who hold that the intervention in the domain of failure is inconsistent an unconvincing for a number of reasons, in this paper we shall suggest some solutions and recommendations which have been empirically tested. The first part of the paper discusses the advantages and drawbacks of grouping students according to their abilities as one of the strategies of helping unsuccessful students. In the second part we offer some recommendations for work with unsuccessful students based on their preferred learning styles. The third part focuses on examining the effects of counseling on solving the problem of academic failure. Finally, some general suggestions are offered to students, teachers and parents which might prove useful in enhancing academic attainment of failing students.

Keywords

• failing student
• grouping according to abilities
• learning styles
• counseling