How Human Skills Can Help in Tough Academic Seasons

For many students, academic growth comes in seasons. In some seasons, students flourish, building skills steadily and reaching milestones often. In other seasons, growth comes slowly or not at all. But when students have strong human skills to support their academic learning, those tough academic seasons can become an important part of their cycle of academic growth.

What role do human skills play in supporting students during difficult academic seasons? Skills like social connection, resilience, goal-setting, and a growth mindset support students through tough academic seasons in the same way that a strong foundation supports a house through a storm. It’s in tough times when the foundation matters most of all.

Here are four ways human skills can support students during tough academic seasons and tips to build those skills in classrooms today.

Human skills help students stay connected

When students struggle academically, they may become disconnected—from their teachers, from their peers, and from themselves. To support students during tough academic seasons and help them stay connected to people who support them, educators can empower them with skills like communication, collaboration, and relationship-building.

When learning stalls, one of the best and simplest things a student can do is talk to someone—a teacher, counselor, parent, or trusted classmate. With a strong foundation of human skills, students are better equipped to lean on the people who can help them through their current struggles.

Student connection tip: Have students create a list of trusted people who they can go to when learning feels difficult. That’s their support system!

Resilience cultivates growth

One bright side of difficult academic seasons is that they can be opportunities to strengthen resilience. When difficult concepts don’t stick and comprehension stalls, kids have the chance to build this important skill for learning and life.

By facing and working through confusion or low performance, students develop an internal script that says, “I can handle this.” The repeated practice of overcoming difficulty transforms academic challenges into manageable obstacles, ultimately building the resilience they need to persevere in all areas of life.

Resilience tip: Create a classroom culture where it’s okay to say, “I’m frustrated, and I need a minute.” This encourages students to pause, self-regulate, and seek a solution instead of shutting down.

Goal-setting can turn the tide

The ability to set, work toward, and reach goals is an important human skill in any academic season, but it’s especially crucial when students are struggling. By setting small, concrete goals, students can start taking steps in the right direction. Once they reach that first goal—no matter how small or simple—they can create and strive toward larger goals. Reaching those goals can mark the beginning of a new, brighter academic season.

Goal-setting tip: Encourage students to set three goals:

• One small goal, like completing every assignment on time for a week
• One medium-sized goal, like earning a higher score on the next quiz than on the last
• One large goal, like raising their final grade by half a letter grade or more

Growth mindset can change perspective

For a struggling student, a tough academic season can feel like it will last forever. A growth mindset helps them adopt a broader and more mature perspective about what it means to learn—that growth isn’t always linear but seasonal. By fostering a growth mindset, students understand that their current struggles are an important part of their learning, not an exception to it.

Of course, developing a growth mindset doesn’t mean lowering standards. In fact, a healthy growth mindset should foster stronger motivation to improve, as it encourages students to realize that they’re capable of doing better—even if they aren’t there yet.

Growth mindset tip: Set aside time with students who are struggling to create personalized mantras that are rooted in a growth mindset. For example, “I have overcome challenges before, and I’ll overcome this one, too.”

A foundation for all seasons

For students going through tough academic seasons, strong human skills can make the difference between falling further behind and forging ahead. It’s critical to help students strengthen these skills early and often—not just when there’s extra time on the calendar.

To learn more about how Second Step® programs can help students thrive in every academic season, request a free consultation today.