School failure what to do. Reasons for poor performance in primary school

Introduction

1.2 Psychological characteristics of underperforming students

1.3 Ways to eliminate school failure

Chapter 2. Experimental work on elimination of academic failure of younger children school age

2.1 Diagnostics of the performance of primary school children

2.2 Implementation of ways to eliminate academic failure in primary school children

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Until now, one of the most “sore” places in all schools is the poor performance of schoolchildren. The reason lies not only in the imperfect methods of work of schools, but also in the peculiarities of age, in the psychological readiness of the child for school.

Analysis of literary sources shows that many authors are studying the problem of schoolchildren's academic failure. Failure is the result of our inattention, indifference, our "maybe it will pass by itself." Experience shows that difficulties that were overcome in time and correctly not only allow the child to study normally, but also preserve his physical and mental health.

The problem of school failure is one of the central problems in pedagogy and educational psychology. It was revealed that school failure can be a consequence of reasons both of a non-psychological nature: family living conditions, pedagogical neglect, the level of education of parents, and psychological: shortcomings in the cognitive, need-motivational spheres, individual psychological characteristics of students, lack of formation of analysis and synthesis. The variety of reasons for academic failure makes it difficult for the teacher to identify them, and in most cases the teacher chooses the traditional way of working with low-performing students - additional classes with them, consisting mainly of repetition of the passed educational material. Moreover, most often, such additional classes are conducted with several lagging students at once. However, this work, which requires a lot of time and effort, turns out to be useless and does not give the desired result.

In order for work with poorly performing children to become effective, it is necessary, first of all, to identify specific psychological reasons that hinder the complete assimilation of knowledge by each student.

The problem of school failure has always been given special attention by both psychologists and teachers (M.N. Danilov, V.I. Zynova, N.A.Menchinskaya, T.A. Vlasova, M.S. Pevzner, A.N. . Leontiev), A.R. Luria, A.A. Smirnov, L.S. Slavin, Yu.K. Babansky). The reasons for school failure were noted: unpreparedness for school education, in its extreme form serving as social and pedagogical neglect; somatic weakness of the child as a result of long-term illnesses in the preschool period; speech defects, uncorrected at preschool age, visual and hearing impairments; mental retardation; negative relationships with classmates and teachers.

At present, scientific thought is characterized by a theory of two factors, i.e., the acceptance of both biological and social theories. Experts note that the problem of academic failure is pedagogical, medical, psychological, and social. That is why, in the last decade, calls have been made more and more often to unite the efforts of specialists in different fields in order to improve the performance of schoolchildren. There is an opinion that a comprehensive examination is necessary to identify the reasons for academic failure. To the psychological examination, it is necessary to add anthropometric (body type) and psychophysiological (properties of the nervous system) examination.

Despite the close attention of teachers and psychologists, scientists and practitioners to the problem of school failure, the number of students experiencing learning difficulties is constantly growing.

All this determined the relevance of the research topic.

When studying psychological and pedagogical literature, we revealed a contradiction between a large amount of psychological and pedagogical literature on the problem of poor performance in primary schoolchildren, on the one hand, and a small number of methodological developments of ways to eliminate these causes.

The revealed contradiction made it possible to identify the research problem: the study of the reasons for the failure of primary schoolchildren and ways to eliminate these reasons.

This problem made it possible to formulate the research topic: "The reasons for schoolchildren's academic failure and ways to eliminate these reasons."

Object of research: academic failure of primary schoolchildren.

Subject of research: the reasons for school failure of primary school age children and ways to eliminate them.

Purpose of the study: to theoretically identify and, through experimental work, to check the effectiveness of ways to eliminate the causes of poor progress in primary schoolchildren.

The study of psychological and pedagogical literature on the research topic allowed us to put forward the following hypothesis: it is assumed that the elimination of the reasons for the failure of younger schoolchildren will be carried out more successfully if pedagogical and psychological prevention is carried out in a timely manner, psychodiagnostics of the reasons for the failure of schoolchildren, in the presence of educational influence, with the unsuccessful students, an individual planned educational work, which includes work with the student's family.

In accordance with the goal and hypothesis of the study, the following tasks were identified:

1. Analyze the scientific and methodological literature on the research problem.

2. Consider the concept of "academic failure" and determine the reasons for the failure of younger students.

3. To identify ways of eliminating academic failure among children of primary school age.

4. Experimentally check the effectiveness of measures to eliminate academic failure in children of primary school age.

Theoretical and methodological basis of the research: methodological and scientific research of school failure in the works of P.P. Blonsky, A.M. Gelmont, N.I. Murachkovsky and others.

To solve the tasks and test the hypothesis, the following research methods were used:

Theoretical analysis of psychological, pedagogical and methodological literature on the research problem.

Observation, interviewing students and teachers, analyzing the products of students' activities;

Comparison, study of documentation;

Organization and conduct of an experiment to test a hypothesis.

Experimental research base: MOU secondary school №31 of the city of Ishim. The experiment involved students of 3 "B" class.

The research was carried out in three stages.

The first stage - staged (02.11.10 - 03.28.10) - the choice and understanding of the topic. The study of psychological and pedagogical literature, problem statement, formulation of the goal, subject, object, research objectives, hypothesis.

The second stage - research itself (29.03.10 - 22.04.10) - development of a set of measures and their systematic implementation, processing of the results obtained, testing the hypothesis.

The third stage - interpretation and design (04/23/10 - 05/29/10) - processing and systematization of the material.

Scientific novelty of the research: the research consists in the fact that the academic failure of primary schoolchildren is for the first time considered as an independent research problem; experimentally tested the effectiveness of measures to eliminate academic failure in children of primary school age.

The practical significance lies in the fact that the conclusions and results of the course work can be used in the teaching and educational process of educational institutions.

Structure and scope of work: the work consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion, a bibliographic list, including 33 titles, annexes. The total volume of work is 44 pages of computer text.

Chapter 1. Theoretical aspects of student failure and ways to eliminate these reasons

1.1 The concept of "academic failure" in the psychological and pedagogical literature

Failure is understood as a situation in which behavior and learning outcomes do not correspond to the educational and didactic requirements of the school. Failure is expressed in the fact that a student has poor reading and numeracy skills, poorly owns the intellectual skills of analysis, generalization, etc. systematic failure leads to pedagogical neglect, which is understood as a complex of negative personality traits that contradict the requirements of the school and society. This phenomenon is extremely undesirable and dangerous from a moral, social, economic standpoint. Pedagogically neglected children often drop out of school and join the risk groups. Failure to progress is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon of school reality, requiring versatile approaches in its study.

Failure is interpreted as a discrepancy between the preparation of students and the mandatory requirements of the school in the assimilation of knowledge, the development of skills and abilities, the formation of the experience of creative activity and the upbringing of cognitive relations. Failure prevention involves the timely detection and elimination of all of its elements.

Child's failure in school

The problem of underachievement of a younger student worries everyone who, due to parental or professional responsibilities, has to communicate with children of this age. It is no secret that contrary to the expectations of parents, many children begin to experience difficulties from the first days of schooling. Erratic attention, mistakes in notebooks, poor memory - all this causes a feeling of frustration among parents and teachers. Persuasions, reproaches and even threats are poured on the child's head. The attitude of adults to the child's academic failure naturally goes through some easily traced stages.

Faced with the first setbacks of a son or daughter, parents move from the first surprise and disappointment to action. First of all, the whole family begins to tirelessly convince the child that it is simply necessary to study well “in our time”. Someone from the adults, most often a mother or grandmother, regularly “teaches lessons” with him, sometimes a special tutor is invited for this. Over time, when the efforts of adults, it seems to them, are not justified, the child is left alone. Parents sigh sadly: “What can we do, well, it’s not given to him to study well. We'll have to, apparently, continue to pull him from class to class. Let him study as best he can, as long as he doesn't have enough twos. "

Teachers, due to their professional training, are certainly not so impulsive, but they sometimes do not refrain from irritated criticism of an unsuccessful student. They, as a rule, from the first months of study single out those who do not succeed in a special group. It is known how much effort and time a teacher spends on additional activities with such students, how he tries to help a child cope with a complex and intensive school program. But the teacher's time is limited due to the high occupancy of classes and the ever-increasing volume of the training program, so his efforts sometimes do not bring the desired result. Thus, by the end of the first year of study, the teacher, willingly or unwillingly, classifies the child as unsuccessful.
Thus, a child at the very beginning of his school life acquires the status of an unsuccessful and, therefore, a dysfunctional student. And since at this age he is not yet capable of adequate self-esteem and relies entirely on the opinion of adults, the status of a loser is fixed in his consciousness quite firmly.
In the future, as practice shows, the work of the teacher and the parents is mainly aimed at “making” the child at least somehow learn. But the child's success with this approach is too small.

A situation is created in which the child is under the yoke of a triple fear. He is afraid to study, he is afraid of reproaches from his parents and teacher.

This fear can manifest itself in various forms. As a rule, it is the unsuccessful children in the first year of school that often get sick, become lethargic, apathetic. The fear of schooling manifests itself in unreasonable whims, stubbornness, hysteria.
Sometimes it seems to adults that the child is indifferent to his failures. I often hear from parents: "My son has absolutely no self-esteem, no deuces can be reached." However, almost always such imaginary indifference is only an external manifestation of fear, which over time can develop into a persistent neurosis that deforms the personality and determines the further style and quality of the child's cognitive activity.
It is quite clear that no one wants such an effect from "educational" influences.

So what is school failure and what are its main problems?

At first glance, the problem "One" - the child has difficulty assimilating program knowledge and gets low marks. This naturally worries and upsets parents, teachers and the child himself. However, if you look more closely, academic failure is the most difficult socio-psychological situation in which the child himself and all his immediate environment are involved. This situation is insoluble without proper corrective work. In addition to the subjects of the situation of academic failure, which were mentioned above, it also includes the teaching technology itself. A number of difficulties are associated with the obvious positive changes that have come to the school system, which are most painfully reflected in the primary school:

• the amount of required information has significantly increased, and, consequently, the pace of mastering the program;
• at the same time, the technology of teaching and learning basically remains unchanged, which is due to both the low technical equipment of schools and the complexities of the system of professional development of teachers.

A contradiction arises between the cognitive capabilities of the program and the requirements of the school system.

So, for example, most children who have difficulty adapting to school life are characterized by increased exhaustion of the nervous system, rapid fatigability. The pace and volume of work that is offered in the class, the number of children, the duration of the lesson turn out to be excessive for them. As a result, these children get tired quickly, their working capacity is significantly reduced, signs of deviations in health appear (appetite is disturbed, headaches appear, feeling of constant fatigue). In this state, they work worse in the lesson, are distracted, do not listen to the teacher's explanations, often disinhibition, agitation, or, conversely, apathy becomes the main thing in a state of overwork. Both serve as protection against overwhelming difficulties, help to "get out" of the learning situation. Unfortunately, adults often do not notice the child's fatigue and accuse him of being "Does not want" study. This upsets the teacher, his contact and understanding with the child is violated, it makes the parents angry, who resort to repressive measures. This situation is painful for the child himself, he is not able to critically assess and explain his difficulties to an adult.
In addition, the discrepancy between the pace of passing the program material and the student's capabilities leads to the fact that some of the information is not assimilated by him, he does not master the necessary skills well enough, does not automate them. When “white spots” are found in knowledge, filling the gaps, as a rule, is due to additional activities at home, which exhaust the child even more. The total workload turns out to be very high, while the time allotted for school sessions is used irrationally. A child overwhelmed in this way is becoming more and more depleted, this entails negative changes in his mental and physical health.
I would also like to say about the teacher, who also makes his own "contribution" in the formation of the failure of the child:

• the teacher's personality itself (quiet voice - children on the last desks do not hear it, overestimated exactingness, unwillingness to change the forms of presenting the material, etc.);
• in elementary school, tasks other than reading at home for the weekend are not set, control, independent, dictations are not carried out on Monday, which is not always observed in elementary school;
• Double workload of the teacher (the teacher leads several classes), which affects the quality of teaching.

Overcoming school failure.

Condition 1.

Compliance with the regime of the day.
For the successful development and education of the child, a protective regime is necessary. This is especially important for children with learning difficulties - after all, these difficulties are often caused by certain problems in somatic and neuropsychic health, associated with increased excitability. In order to preserve the working capacity of such a child, not to cause additional harm to his health by the training load, you need to be very careful about the organization of his work and rest, sparing and at the same time making full use of his strength. This can be done only with a clear implementation of the daily routine, in which both work and rest are given appropriate time.
Often, parental pride forces the child to sit at the lessons until the task is completed flawlessly, the texts are read until "it bounces off the teeth," written works are rewritten several times. And the fact that an increase in the volume of work causes an increase in the number of mistakes only causes mother's or grandmother's irritation and unflattering remarks about the child. It also happens in another way: a child, left to himself when doing his homework, cannot concentrate for a long time, it is difficult for him to navigate the upcoming work, to determine where to start, he looks out the window, forgetting which textbook needs to be taken out of the portfolio, and the time goes ... And it takes hour after hour - as if to complete the task, but in fact wasted.
In both the first and second cases, the child's time and energy are used irrationally, he gets tired, his nervous system is depleted, he does not have time to rest, play, relax. And the result is disappointing: sooner or later, but overwork will affect the decline in educational achievements, which will cause poor grades, displeasure of parents.

So how much time can a child spend on homework?

This time should not exceed the sanitary and hygienic standards provided for primary school students.

In first grade, starting from the second half of the year - no more than one hour;

in second grade - up to one and a half hours;

in the third and fourth grades - up to two hours.

If the child does not have time to cope with the task during this time, think about how to use the time more rationally, consult with the teacher, how you can help the child. Your child needs good rest before starting homework. Then his efficiency will be higher, and he will need less time to work.

Do you need breaks during homework, how to organize them correctly? And what lessons are best done first - oral or written?

Breaks are absolutely necessary - the child can work without rest for a short time, 8-15 minutes. At the same time, continuous reading for a first grader should not exceed 8-10 minutes, for a second grader 10-15, writing 4-5 minutes. After that, he needs relaxation, switching attention, best of all physical education, as well as exercises for the hands and fingers. After 30-40 minutes, it makes sense to take a long break - you can have a snack, play with the dog, swing on the bar. Just don't watch TV or continue to sit at your desk - you need to rest your eyes, work other muscle groups. If you see that the child is tired earlier, give him a rest, because working in a tired state is not productive - it will take a lot of time and the results will upset you.
What subjects to start doing homework with must be determined individually. It is better to start with reading, it "includes" the child in the work, the visual image of the word prepares him for writing. Then it is worth completing the writing task, then starting math, leaving lighter subjects for a snack. However, if the child expresses a desire to change the order of execution - give him freedom, let him decide what he wants to do first. Usually, children are more willing to take on those subjects that are easier for them to digest, they seem more interesting to them, it is easier for them to achieve success in these subjects. Having started with such a subject, the child will more easily "join" the work and move on to completing assignments in other subjects.

An adult may notice the child's fatigue in the following ways:

• decreased sensitivity (in order to attract the attention of a tired child, the teacher has to raise his voice);
• a drop in strength and a deterioration in coordination of movements (the posture of a child sitting at a desk is disturbed, handwriting becomes worse, etc.);
• deterioration in concentration, decrease in the productivity of mental activity and interest in the task being performed (for example, it may take a child much more time to solve the same problem at the end of the lesson than at the beginning);
• distracted attention, increased physical activity, inability to concentrate on a task, an increase in the number of errors are also signs of fatigue.

If a child blinks, rubs his eyes, props his head with his hand, puts it on the desk, begins to "slide" on the chair, or even openly yawns - do not rush to accuse him of bad behavior or neglect of the teacher leading the lesson. Most often these are signs of fatigue, or even overwork - chronic, accumulated fatigue. In such a state, he needs not censure, but rest.
In the process of learning, fatigue is inevitable, but the load should be dosed in such a way that the resulting fatigue disappears completely after the rest following work. If this does not happen, fatigue accumulates, turns into chronic overwork and leads to the formation of a persistent asthenic syndrome.

How long should the child walk? And what is the best way to organize his leisure time on weekends?

It is necessary to plan the day of an elementary school student so that he can be outdoors for at least 2-3 hours daily. Let him play outdoor games with peers, ski, let boats in the puddles. The combination of fresh air, movement, positive emotions will allow him to recharge with vivacity. If there is an opportunity to go for a quiet walk before going to bed, this is also great - the child will have time to relax, switch to a calm rhythm, he will fall asleep more easily, his sleep will be deeper, and will give full rest.
On weekends, try to prevent your child from spending all the time watching lessons and watching TV. On weekends, as on weekdays, it is undesirable to watch TV for more than 40, or at least 60 minutes. Rhythmic light stimulation coming from the TV screen adversely affects the child's brain and disorganizes his activity. Lessons are best done on weekdays, as a last resort, you can leave entertaining tasks for the weekend, for example, on work or drawing. If there is a need to sit down for lessons, they should not take more than the prescribed time on weekdays. But what a child must do is to get enough sleep, take a walk, chat with mom and dad, play those games for which there is not enough time on weekdays. Try to keep him from getting out of the usual rhythm of life, do not break the normal daily routine. Then, by the beginning of the new working week, the child will be ready to fully study further.

How can I help my child with homework?
Try to understand your child's problems. Often, difficulties in learning are associated with the immaturity of the child's nervous system, the insufficiency of its individual functions. These features are manifested, in particular, the inability to navigate in the performance of the task, to highlight the main, essential, to correctly plan the performance of the task, very often the child is difficult to get into work, with difficulty switches to the next task. This is not laziness or unwillingness to work, but objective difficulties that he experiences in educational activities.
A good help in his work can be the so-called organizing help: not a hint, but indication,what you need to pay attention to, dividing the task into smaller parts, helping in organizing the workplace, in switching from one task to another. Sometimes it is worth reminding you which textbook you need to get out of your portfolio, helping you find the page, exercise or problem number - all this will help save time spent by your child and, accordingly, save his energy. However, in no case should you rush - forcing the pace of activity can exhaust the child. Calm benevolent help will help save energy, believe that success is quite achievable. Do not be afraid that the child will never become independent - if you do not take away his initiative, rigidly impose his own way of acting. Having overcome his difficulties with your help, he will learn not to be afraid of the work ahead, to rationally organize and plan his activities.

Taking into account the individual characteristics of the child.

Poor school performance does not always mean a lag in mental and intellectual development. Emotional problems, difficulties in communicating with peers, conflicts in the family can interfere with the child, fully involved in learning. In addition, we must not forget that the so-called normal development of a child does not exclude certain features of his education. One person understands and remembers visual images better, the other prefers what he hears. Other children find it difficult to memorize rules and apply them poorly, but after seeing a few examples, they are quite able to independently establish a pattern and deduce a rule. There are impulsive children, they think quickly, respond quickly, this process seems to be “facilitated” for them: if you make a mistake, it doesn't matter, you can still try, and it will turn out right someday. But a reflexive child needs time to ponder and analyze the information received, to correlate with what he already knows and can, to observe how other children operate with this information. The process requires more time, the glory of a "slow-witted" is assigned to the child. But where the response time is not limited, the child can show excellent results, testifying to deep knowledge.
In Western psychology, the concept of "style conflict" has come into use. The teaching style that the teacher uses is determined by his personal characteristics and the teaching technology that he uses. The student's work style is determined by his individual characteristics. If one coincides with the other, the learning process is successful, there is the joy of learning, mutual pleasure from communication between the student and the teacher. If it does not match, the learning process becomes a test for both the student and the teacher.
Cognition, learning is the same natural need of a child as food, sleep, play. The reaction of the social environment, specific to chronic failure, is a constant negative assessment, comments, and discontent from parents and a teacher.
As a result, the child develops and maintains a high level of anxiety. His self-confidence drops, self-esteem decreases. The position of a chronically unsuccessful junior student is the idea of \u200b\u200boneself as a hopelessly bad student. These are the main features of the psychological profile in this syndrome.

The natural consequences of a high level of anxiety are an unproductive waste of time on insignificant details, a distraction from work by reasoning about "how bad it will be if I fail again, if I get a bad grade again", rejection of tasks that already seem child is too difficult.
The constant fear of making a mistake distracts the child's attention from the meaning of the tasks he is performing; he fixates on random little things, losing sight of the main thing. Fears force him to repeatedly check his work, which leads to additional unjustified waste of time and effort. Non-possession effective ways checking makes it also meaningless, since it still does not help to find and correct the error. Striving to do the best job possible (perfectionism) ultimately makes things worse. Low performance (an inevitable consequence of persistent anxiety) is a central feature of chronic failure.
This is how a vicious circle develops: anxiety, disrupting the child's activities, leads to failure, negative assessments from others. Failure breeds anxiety by reinforcing failure. The further, the more difficult it becomes to break this circle, and therefore failure becomes "chronic". The more responsible work a child does, the more worries he becomes. If the level of anxiety is already increased, then its additional increase (excitement) further reduces the results of work. Because of this, responsible control and examination work is performed not better, but worse than everyday tasks. An addiction arises that surprises many parents and educators: as motivation increases, achievements decrease.
In addition to increased anxiety, there is one more condition, without which "chronic" failure does not occur. This is a fairly high degree of socialization of the child, an attitude towards diligence, obedience, uncritical fulfillment of the requirements of adults. If there is no such attitude, then he is more or less indifferent to the discrepancy between his achievements and the expectations of adults. Of course, such a child may also have an increased level of anxiety, but for other reasons.
Parents themselves often talk about the child's attitude to diligence, telling how long he sits at the lessons (although at the same time he can be constantly distracted from the tasks being performed). In the psychological examination, the child's emphasized focus on the exact fulfillment of the requirements of the examiner, as well as the desire to avoid unusual and ambiguously defined tasks, which the child assesses as particularly difficult, is manifested.

Example:
Anya B. 9 years old. She is in the third grade and for the second year she has been known as a "poor student", but for some reason both her parents and the teacher put up with this. Now the teacher's patience has run out. She said that Anya should either be left for the second year, or transferred to a school for the mentally retarded.
Psychological examination showed that Anya had a low level of mental development, but normal for her age. The stock of knowledge is somewhat below the norm, but not so much as to make it impossible to study in a mass school. Increased fatigue, decreased performance. This is probably a consequence of overload: the girl's father says that she has a lot of extra classes - this, in his opinion, is the only way to teach her what the school curriculum requires.

The main psychological feature of Anya is a very high level of anxiety and anxiety. She's always afraid to make a mistake. Because of this, sometimes she completely refuses to perform tasks that she is quite capable of. Sometimes, nevertheless, having taken up the task, she pays so much attention to trifles that she no longer has any energy or time for the main thing. She uses an eraser rather than a pencil when drawing. This does not make sense, since a new drawn line is usually no better than an erased one, but the time for each drawing is spent twice or three times more than necessary.
The primary causes that ultimately lead to "chronic" failure can be different. The most common prerequisite is the lack of preparedness of the child for school, leading to difficulties from the first days of school. So, for example, underdevelopment of fine motor skills (the ability to control fine movements of the fingers and hand) immediately causes failure in learning to write. The lack of formation of voluntary attention leads to difficulties in organizing all the work in the lesson; the child does not remember, “ignores” the tasks and instructions of the teacher.
Often, the reason for the first failures is learning disabilities (mental retardation), the discrepancy between the methods of teaching the child's capabilities. In the future, on this basis, chronic failure develops and, even if the delay has already been compensated, educational achievements do not increase: now they are supported by an increased level of anxiety. With a particularly deep retardation of mental development, and even more so with mental retardation, the syndrome of "chronic" failure does not arise: in these cases, the child's criticality is reduced, and he simply does not notice his own failures and lag behind other children.
In some cases, the “weak link” that triggers a vicious circle is the inflated expectations of the parents. The normal, average school success of a child who was considered a "child prodigy" is perceived by the parents (and therefore by themselves) as failures. Real achievements are not noticed or appreciated. As a result, a mechanism begins to work, leading to an increase in anxiety and, as a result, to real academic failure.
A variant is possible when an increased level of anxiety is initially formed not due to school failures, but under the influence of family conflicts or the wrong style of upbringing. The general self-doubt caused by this, the tendency to panic reaction to any difficulties is transferred later to school life. Further, the already described syndrome of chronic failure develops, and even with normalization family relations anxiety does not disappear: now it is supported by school failure.
Regardless of the initial cause, development of the type of chronic failure proceeds in approximately the same way. Ultimately, in all cases, there is a combination of low achievements, sharply increased anxiety, self-doubt and low assessment of the child by others (parents, teachers).

All these impairments are reversible, but until they are overcome, academic success, of course, continues to decline. Often, parents, trying to overcome the difficulties that have arisen in the child, arrange daily additional activities (as we saw with Anya's example). This increases asthenization and, consequently, increases the overall unfavorable situation, further inhibits development.
For a psychologist, the most important indicator that indicates the presence of chronic failure is the "alarming" disorganization of activity (that is, violations of planning and self-control caused by an increased level of anxiety). "Anxious" disorganization should be distinguished from the initial lack of organization of actions. One of the characteristic indicators that disorganization is caused precisely by an increase in anxiety is a deterioration in results with an increase in motivation. Numerous symptoms of anxiety, both observed in behavior and manifested in tests, indicate the "alarming" decay of activity (in contrast to the initially low level of its organization).
If the anxiety is high, but there are no pronounced violations of the organization of activities, then we can only talk about the threat of chronic failure, about the fact that the child is in a high-risk zone, and not about the existing psychological syndrome.
"Chronic" failure is a neurotic psychological syndrome. In the course of its development, neurotic symptoms very often join the primary psychological symptoms: tics, obsessive movements and thoughts, enuresis, sleep disturbances, etc. Sometimes (but, of course, by no means always) the appearance of neurotic symptoms paradoxically helps to overcome the initial syndrome. Parents worried about the child's illness stop paying as much attention as before to his school failures. This change in the response of the social environment opens the vicious circle that has sustained chronic failure. From the category of "unsuccessful" children falls into the category of "sick".
Another frequent consequence of long-term chronic failure is a drop in learning motivation, the emergence of a negative attitude towards school and learning. In this case, the child's initial high socialization by the end of primary school age can be replaced by an asocial attitude.
For many children, constant failure over time leads to a pessimistic approach to reality and the development of a depressive state. Symptoms of depression are characteristic of long-onset “chronic” failure. As a rule, they appear by the end of primary school and mark the formation of a new psychological syndrome - total regression.

Total regression - one of the most severe psychological syndromes of adolescence and adolescence. Typical for him is not only a stop in development, but also the loss of previous achievements (which explains his name).

Total regression is a neurotizing and psychopathic psychological syndrome, with an even more pronounced neurotic effect than that of “chronic” failure. Often it develops against the background of an already existing neurosis. Leaving for illness, which sometimes leads to a reduction of the initial psychological syndrome in case of chronic failure, does not perform a similar function in case of total regression. On the contrary, it can lead to a deepening of the condition, further reducing the activity of the adolescent. This syndrome is also fraught with serious disorders in the formation of personality.
Recommendations for parents in case of "chronic" failure in a child

The main thing that adults should do with such a "diagnosis" is to provide the child with a sense of success. To do this, when assessing his work, you must be guided by several simple rules. The main one is not to compare his very mediocre results with the standard (the requirements of the school curriculum, samples of adults, the achievements of more successful classmates). The child should be compared only with himself and praised for only one thing: for improving his own results. If in yesterday's test he correctly made only one example out of ten, and in today's test - two, then this should be noted as a real success, which should be highly appreciated by adults and without any condescension or irony. If today's result is lower than yesterday's, then it is only necessary to express firm confidence that tomorrow's will be higher.

It is very important to find at least some area in which the child can be successful, to realize himself. This area must be given high value in his eyes. Whatever he is successful: in sports, in purely household chores, in computer games or in drawing, this should become the subject of a lively and intent interest of parents. In no case should the child be blamed for failures in school affairs. On the contrary, it should be emphasized that since he has learned to do something well, he will gradually learn everything else.

Sometimes it seems to adults that the child has no ability at all for anything. However, in reality, this almost never happens. Maybe he runs well? Then you need to send him to the athletics section (and not say that he does not have time for this, because he does not have time to do his homework). Perhaps he knows how to accurately work with small details? Then he should enroll in an aircraft modeling circle. A child suffering from chronic failure should not only be praised and scolded (which is obvious), but praised exactly when he does something (and not when he is passively sitting, without disturbing others).

Parents and teachers need to heal their impatience: the wait for academic success will take a long time, since anxiety reduction cannot occur in one week. And even then, the "tail" of the accumulated gaps in knowledge will make itself felt for a long time. The school should for a very long time remain an area of \u200b\u200banxiety-reducing, gentle assessment (which in itself produces some improvement in results). One should be prepared for the fact that school affairs may remain outside the sphere of children's self-affirmation, therefore, the painfulness of the school situation should be reduced by any means. First of all, it is necessary to reduce the value of school marks (but not knowledge!). In especially serious cases, you have to devalue a number of other school requirements and values \u200b\u200b(for example, close your eyes to the fact that homework is not fully completed). Thanks to these measures, the child's school anxiety is gradually reduced, and since he continues to work in the classroom, some achievements are accumulated.

It is important that parents do not show their child their concern about his educational failure. So that, sincerely interested in his school life, they at the same time shifted the emphasis of their interests to the relations of children in the class, preparation for the holidays, class duty, excursions and trips, but not fixated on the area of \u200b\u200bfailure - school grades. The sphere of activity in which the child is successful and can assert himself, gain the lost faith in himself, should be emphasized as extremely significant, highly valued and acutely interested in them. Such a revision of traditional school values \u200b\u200bhelps to prevent the most serious result of chronic failure - a sharply negative attitude of a child towards learning, which by adolescence can turn a chronically unsuccessful child into a complete bully. At the same time, another frequent consequence of chronic failure does not arise - total regression, leading to deep passivity and indifference. In general, the more parents and teachers keep a child at school, the worse for his school success.
In the end, let us return to the question posed by Anya's parents: does it make sense to leave a child with chronic failure for the second year or to transfer to an auxiliary school? The answer to this question is clearly negative. The girl's abilities are quite sufficient to assimilate the educational material. You just need to make the classes more lively and interesting and stop constantly scolding her, causing her to roughly the state that occurs in a rabbit at the sight of a boa constrictor. Then she, of course, will be able to get out to the level of the "Troechnitsa", which is already quite good. Leaving it for the second year will only further lower her self-confidence (although there is almost no place to lower it), and will further deepen her chronic failure.
Moreover, Anya should not be sent to school for the mentally retarded (or for children with developmental delays). These schools are not intended for children with severe anxiety, but for those who have a low level of mental development.

For some children, it is learning disabilities that lead to "chronic" failure. In this case, a special school will be useful and, perhaps, transfer to such a school will be enough to overcome the difficulties that have arisen. But Anya has a different reason for her difficulties, which means that other measures must be taken.

Recommendations for parents with a total regression in a child

With this psychological syndrome, there is little that can be done with "home remedies." It is highly desirable to refer the child to psychotherapy. Most often, with this syndrome, relations in the family as a whole are disturbed so seriously that it happens that family psychotherapy is needed. If the child has severe depressive symptoms, then a consultation with a psychiatrist is necessary.

2. N.P. Mayorov. Failure to progress. How to identify and eliminate its causes. St. Petersburg, "Knowledge", 1998
Contains recommendations for psychodiagnostic techniques that can be used in the correction and development of HMF.
3. N.K. Korsakova, Yu.V. Mikadze, E. Yu. Balashov. Unsuccessful children: neuropsychological diagnosis of learning difficulties in primary school children. Moscow, 2001
Recommended for specialists with psychological and pedagogical education. Neuropsychological methods for diagnosing the state and development of mental functions in primary schoolchildren and learning difficulties associated with impairments to these functions are considered.
4. B.S. Volkov. Psychology of a teenager.
The features of the age-related mental development of a teenager are considered.
5.T.I. Babaeva. At the school doorstep. - M .: Education, 1993
6. M.M. Bezrukikh, S.P. Efimova. The child goes to school. - M .: "Academy, 1998
Features of the psychological and physiological development of children younger age, practical recommendations are given for correcting the difficulties of adaptation of children to school.

For determining reasons for school failureand there are several factors to consider.
Firstly, these are the general indicators of the child's health, the health group, observations from specialists. The problems of the somatic state are solved by specialists, psychological assistance in this case is supportive, subject to all medical recommendations.

Secondly, it is necessary to take into account the social situation of the child's development, the peculiarities of parent-child relations, the teacher-student relationship, the adequacy of the adult requirements to the child's mental and physical capabilities. Psychological support in this case includes counseling parents and teachers, and conducting educational work.

It is important for a psychologist to be able to differentiate negative behavioral manifestations, which can be explained by psychophysiological characteristics of a certain age and are temporary, from maladaptive behaviorcaused by social conditions or disorders of the psycho-neurological sphere.

In the process of teaching a child at school, there are two most critical periods: the beginning of education in grade 1 and the period of education in grades 5-7. Psychophysiologists note that these periods are associated with a pronounced restructuring in the activity of the main physiological systems of the child's body, when educational work and mental activity are accompanied by high functional stress. This can manifest itself in increased fatigue, in increased impulsivity, in a decrease in the arbitrariness of mental processes.

At the beginning of the first year of study, the process of adaptation to school takes place, which includes social, psychological and physiological aspects. Let's consider three main stages of physiological adaptation.

Stage I - indicative: in response to the whole range of influences associated with the beginning of systematic education, the body of a first grader experiences tension in almost all systems. Intellectual and emotional stress is accompanied by prolonged static stress while maintaining a certain posture in class. This explains the low level and instability of working capacity, concentration of attention. Educators and parents celebrate "forgetfulness", "Absent-mindedness" child. This stage lasts 2-3 weeks.

Stage II - adaptive: the student's body is looking for optimal responses to pedagogical influences and parental requirements. The discrepancy between the requirements of adults and the capabilities of the first grader leads to the fact that at the end of the school day is sharply expressed fatigue, learning activity decreases... Depending on the adaptive capabilities, the somatic state, this time period is individual for each child.

Stage III - relatively stable adaptation: the child's body finds the best options for responding to the training load. The first grader develops behaviors that help him avoid negative assessments from adults, both literally and figuratively. Psychophysiologists note that all the adaptation period lasts approximately 5-6 weeks... The first month of study is considered especially difficult, because "The study of the reactions of the organism of first-graders in the classroom according to the indicators of the cardiovascular system showed that the tension in the activity of a child's heart can be compared with the tension of an astronaut in a weightless state."

Later, at 5-6 weeks of training, performance indicators become more stable, the stress of the main life-supporting systems of the body decreases, and a relative adaptation to the whole complex of loads associated with training begins. And although the period of acute physiological adaptation ends, the entire first year can be considered a period of unstable and intense regulation of all body systems. Special studies have shown that when reading aloud, the metabolism increases by 48%, the answer at the blackboard and control works lead to an increase in the pulse rate by 15-30 beats, the systolic pressure rises, etc.

It is possible to determine the difficulty of the adaptation process by changes in the behavior of children: excessive excitement, even aggressiveness, or lethargy, apathy, under unfavorable conditions there is a feeling of fear, refusal to attend school. Positive indicators are the formation of adequate behavior, establishing contacts with the teacher and peers, mastering the skills of educational activities, the desire to receive positive feedback.

In adolescence, at the initial stages of puberty (approximately in the 5th - 7th grade), according to psychophysiologists, regressive deviations are found in the organization of voluntary attention given by verbal instruction. The teacher can note that the adolescents in the classroom seem to be in a state of prostration, “they see and hear nothing”. The student's behavior is characterized by emotional instability, uncontrollability, decreased performance... These observed changes are based on powerful biological changes, accompanied by a decrease in self-control. At the same time, the need for self-affirmation increases, the responses are impulsive, and the adequacy of the assessment of one's behavior is reduced. The unfavorable phase of puberty for different schoolchildren occurs at different ages, and adolescents with different adaptive abilities are in the same class, therefore an individual approach becomes especially important.

Based on the foregoing, we can conclude that one group of reasons for school failure can be psychophysiological age or individual characteristics.

A description of the psychological work to harmonize social relationships, to accompany children with developmental problems is beyond the scope of the article, here we provide those recommendations that will help teachers and parents organize the learning process and homework for schoolchildren.

II. Performance dynamics

It must also be borne in mind that every child has individual rate of performance... Changes in working capacity throughout the day allows you to see at what “price” a particular pedagogical result is achieved. If learning requires significant mental and physical costs from the child, then fatigue can occur not only in the evening, but already in the middle of the day, for example, when the child has just come from school and has not yet started doing homework. Understanding this will help you find the best time to do your homework or attend extra classes. In other words, decide to do homework shortly after school or after rest, and start assignments with subjects that are difficult or easier for the child.

The general patterns of performance dynamics include:

1. activation- a gradual increase in efficiency;
2. optimum- a stable period when the body works most efficiently;
3. pre-exhaustion- compensatory restructuring, when the child can still work efficiently, but at the cost of significant stress. It is this period that is characterized by a decrease in attention, an increase in the number of distractions, a decrease in the pace of activity, an increase in motor activity. By an effort of will, the child can continue to work, but for a very short time;
4. fatigue- a special functional state of the body, which occurs both during prolonged, but uninteresting work, and during short-term intensive work. The first signs of fatigue are well known to teachers and parents: attention is impaired, the number of errors increases, handwriting changes. Sometimes it manifests itself externally as sweating of the hands, redness of the face, complaints of headache or "abdominal pain" are possible.

We emphasize that quite often increased motor activity also indicates fatigue. Parents believe that if a child begins to show excitement, then this indicates "irrepressible energy", and he should be loaded with additional physical exercises, "to throw out emotions." However, if this is a consequence of fatigue, then the additional load can increase the functional stress, the child cannot calm down for a long time.

The performance level can change throughout the day:

• The baseline performance level can be high, medium, or low. Such a student works stably in the classroom and at home, class and homework is almost the same in quality.
• Performance may decline not only by the end of the day, but already in the middle. The teacher notes that in 4-5 lessons the child shows signs of fatigue, forgets to write down homework, and becomes distracted.
• At a low or medium baseline, performance improves by the middle of the day or only towards the end. It is noted that in the last lessons the student copes with the tasks easier, if at this time there are control types of work, then they are better in quality than at the beginning of the day.
• Improvement in performance in the morning and worse in the second. At the end of the first lesson, working capacity increases, “joins in work”, however, by the end of the school day, the initial low or average level of working capacity begins to decline, by the evening such a student will do his homework sluggishly, for a long time.
• Deterioration of working capacity in the morning and improvement in the second. The initial average or low level of performance increases towards the end of the school day, such a student will do much better homework than work in the classroom.

Here are several options for the dynamics of performance. Of course, a teacher or a parent can not determine the type of work capacity, but understanding that they are different with a variety of options will help to find a more adequate approach to the child.

For example, strong emotional stress, even positive, can over-excite the child, leading to faster fatigue. Knowing the characteristics of the type of working capacity, the teacher or parent will be able to understand that negative behavior is caused not by negative character traits, but by fatigue: it has become difficult for the child to control his behavior. This will help avoid unnecessary reprimands against the child.

III. If additional activities do not bring results

An important aspect in teaching a child is the characteristics of mental activity. In most cases, difficulties arise in the first months of school and, if you choose the right approach to the child, then gradually the learning process will stabilize. Traditional ways of developing mental qualities in children with poor memory, poor concentration of attention are not always effective. Often, additional activities tire the child even more and get a "reverse result" in learning.

"Unusual child"

The child is described as physically developed or slightly weakened. However, it is noted that he often "turns off", does not respond to comments, works only at the beginning, gets tired rather quickly, can be active at recess, but responds poorly in class, does not remember the material well, and is inattentive. Such children sometimes look unusual, withdraw into themselves, often give strange, non-standard answers. Parents often take this specificity for talent and send their children to various studios and circles. It is difficult for such parents to understand that additional activities can cause overwork and nervous exhaustion. Such children are emotionally “sluggish” and can endure the impressions received for a long time. Light positive emotions have a good effect on them, and strong ones drain them.

"Mischievous"

Such a child is sometimes called hyperactive, overly active. However, upon closer attention, this turns out to be motor disinhibition, forced, uncontrollable reactivity, which is combined with increased excitability, "chaotic grabbing" of everything that catches the eye and fatigue. With unfamiliar adults, they behave in the same way as natural ones, such children are easy to provoke into conflict, even in the presence of teachers. A harsh remark is given a harsh answer. Such a child tries, but cannot keep a promise, often he causes irritation, not sympathy, while he himself suffers greatly. In the process of learning, it also periodically "turns off" without noticing it. As a result, with a good memory, memorization of the material may be inconsistent. It is difficult for a child to maintain mental performance until the end of the day, although he remains motor active until late in the evening. Strong emotions can disorganize the child's behavior.

"Tug-think"

The teacher notes that the child is slowly worked into the educational material, it is difficult to switch him to another task. It "sways for a long time", but then it works quickly. The desire of adults to urge such a child leads to the fact that he begins to get nervous and even longer cannot delve into the work. Parents and educators attribute this to the child's stubbornness, but in a calm environment he is able to switch to a new type of activity much faster. In such a child, the previous instruction may overlap with the next one and lead to confusion, words or numbers from the previous exercise or task may come up, which leads to "wild" mistakes. Such a child does not cope well with short and quick independent work, and teachers and parents believe that the child is lazy and can work "whenever he wants." At a slow pace of work, he learns much better.

"Capable but lazy"

The child is immediately actively involved in the activity, but does not work for long, gets tired quickly, it is difficult for him to regulate his working capacity. Such a child is often scolded for laziness, lack of will, unwillingness to work hard, to bring the work started to the end. Such a child writes short independent works well, and long ones bad. By the end of the lesson, the child can "disconnect" and hand over unfinished work. Such a child is constantly brought up at school and at home, the father tries to make him strong-willed, and the mother - neat and organized. Attempts to train in various sports sections only exacerbate the difficult situation.

"Slightly inconsiderate"

Such a child also quickly gets tired, however, with the help of volitional self-control, he can regulate his activity. He has a reduced memory capacity, voluntary attention is poorly developed, but his intellect does not suffer. Attempts to train the attention and memory of such children lead to nothing but overwork. The performance of such a child is usually maintained throughout the school day, but there are still "blackouts". The child can continue to act without noticing that the instruction has changed, some condition has fallen out. Consequently, such a child also has specific gaps in knowledge.

Obviously, for most children, all the problems described are not total in nature. However, the manifestation of this or that quality should not be ignored and the child needs help. First of all, you should consult with your doctor who can determine the cause of these "features". For such children, it is important to alternate activities with rest, change the type of activity, especially when preparing homework. If the lesson has been delayed, and the child cannot cope in any way, you should postpone the task for a while and then return to it.

• Homework should begin with a brief review of what was passed in the lesson. This will help clarify how correctly the child understood the educational material.
• The method "Tell it shortly" turns out to be effective: the child is invited to present a part of what he has read in one or two sentences, "as understood."
• For "minutes of rest" it is good to use various rhythmic exercises (with and without music), physical exercise on opposite movements. For example, "One hand catches up with the other": the child stands with his hands down, one hand on the belt, two - the other hand on the belt, three - one hand on the shoulder, four - the other hand. Then the movement goes down.
• Exercise "Claps": clap the rhythm of the memorized poem with your palms. A more difficult option - a loud clap denotes a stressed syllable in a word. For example: "LAM-pa".
• To avoid doing homework twice on a draft and in a notebook, you can, for hand training before writing, invite your child to color or outline a large picture with a pencil.
• To make reading easier, it is good to use a ruler under the line to be read. The increase in reading speed is not achieved with a large amount of text, but the repetition of short paragraphs or sentences. A child will learn the text better if he reads it “piece by piece”, each several times, since it is difficult to retain the entire text in memory, especially for a first grader. When teaching to read, the goal is understanding, not speaking aloud, so the child needs to be given the opportunity to understand the text.
• It is recommended to often show, tell, play around or draw graphically the information that needs to be learned.
• At the end of the work, it is necessary to praise the child for his diligence. Fear, negative emotions reduce the learning ability of any person, especially a first grader.
• In the evening, it is better to just read the child once again what he needs to remember, and not demand that he repeat it. The teacher and parents know the "retraining effect" if the material was memorized so intensively that it led to overwork and forgetting.
• Throughout first grade, parents should not immediately rely on the child's independence, gradual mastery of school skills, help, interest and sincere participation will have a positive effect on the acquisition of knowledge.

When the help of a speech therapist is needed

First graders have such spelling errors as "mirror writing", missing letters, missing words, etc. During the first half of the year of training, the number of such errors decreases, in this case it is the automation of the writing skill, which will continue for some time. If such errors grow, the handwriting becomes illegible, there are a lot of blots in the notebooks, then this indicates that the student has problems, at least with phonemic perception, as well as difficulties in the formation of hand-eye coordination, the presence of movements that complicate the writing process ...

Manifestation of dysgraphic errors in written works

It is necessary to distinguish the nature of errors in the written work of students so that the correction work is directed in nature. These errors can be caused by phonetic and phonemic underdevelopment of speech, violation of grammatical structure, insufficient vocabulary. These children, as a rule, had a violation of sound pronunciation in preschool age, they were engaged with a speech therapist. However, within the framework of preschool age, speech therapy work is traditionally aimed at forming the correct sound pronunciation, and work on other aspects turned out to be insufficient. Such students need further help from a speech therapist; the teacher's work on mastering the rules of grammar is difficult. During psychological examination, confusion in the reproduction of the names of objects is revealed, for example, the child gives the answer to the picture "saucepan", with auditory perception he confuses the sound row, instead of "ice, flag, notebook" answers "ice, fRag", "sword" ( low-frequency) is replaced by a "ball" (which occurs more often in a child's experience).

Here is a table on the differentiation of dysgraphic and spelling errors, which shows that the student additionally needs speech therapy assistance.

At the level of written work performed "by ear" (dictations)

Insufficient formation of phonemic perception leads to various types of dysgraphic errors

	Spelling mistakes
mixing and replacing consonant letters corresponding to opposition sounds	spelling of paired voiced and voiceless consonants
vowel skipping	spelling of soft and hard consonants
various distortions of the sound-letter composition of the word: under-description, omissions, extra letters, permutations	spelling of the softening "b", separating "b", "b"
separate spelling of parts of a word	double consonant spelling
mixing and replacing iotated ("i", "u", etc.)	spelling of unpronounceable consonants
	vowel spelling after sibilants

At the level of written works (presentation, composition, i.e. written own speech)

As a consequence of the phonetic-phonemic development of speech, and a limited vocabulary, violations of the grammatical structure of speech explain the following types of errors:

Specific (dysgraphic) errors	Spelling mistakes
mixing, replacing words in meaning and acoustic similarity	spelling of generic and case endings
deformations of the syllable structure of a word - under-description, omissions, permutations, syllable substitutions	spelling of unstressed vowels at the root of the word, in prefixes, in endings
errors of prepositional control and case form, errors of agreement	spelling of prefixes, suffixes, and various parts of speech
continuous spelling of a preposition with a word, separate spelling of a prefix with a stem	spelling of capital letters, conjunctions and union words
violation of word order in a sentence	spelling of homogeneous members of a sentence
deformations of sentences	difficulties in isolating the main idea of \u200b\u200bthe text, supporting words
no offer boundaries
incorrect definition of the main and subordinate clauses, misuse of union words
difficulties in constructing coherent detailed written texts
difficulty in identifying parts of the text
violation of the sequence and consistency of the text

In addition to specific mistakes in writing, for such children it is difficult and understanding of detailed sentences, complex temporary structures, understanding the conditions of word problems, especially such phrases as "only, how many".

Unformed spatial representations

Insufficient formation of spatial, spatio-temporal representations is manifested in violations of graphic activity, reading, writing, mastering mathematical operations, difficulties in the formation of abstract-logical thinking. In other words, the examination reveals problems in carrying out intellectual operations. In this case, the psychologist carries out work on the formation of spatial representations, which is carried out in the logic of ontogenesis, i.e. phased formation.

Based on the above, we can conclude that the reasons for school failure are:

1) at the causal level:

• the specificity of the neurobiological functional organization of the brain systems;
• the specificity of the individual profile of functional asymmetry;
• social development situation;
• individual somatic condition;

2) the level of basic components of mental development:

• arbitrariness of mental activity;
• spatial and spatial-temporal representations;
• basic affective regulation.

The psychological and pedagogical conclusion on the reasons for school failure should include a description of psychophysiological characteristics, the results of a diagnostic examination of the level of basic components of mental development and recommendations for further support, including additional consultations with specialists such as a speech therapist, a doctor, a social teacher, and, if necessary, a defectologist. In this case, the accompanying and developmental work will be carried out in a comprehensive manner and will be effective.

Psychologist-consultant FPPM VShK
methodist of the Laboratory of Practical Psychology, MC SAO

Younger school age is the most responsible stage of school childhood. The main achievements of this age are due to the leading nature of educational activity and are in many respects decisive for the last years of education; by the end of primary school age, the child must want to learn, be able to learn and believe in himself.

In order not to oversimplify the problem of student failure, it should be noted that it is based on not one reason, but several, and quite often they act in combination. It also happens that new, secondary reasons are superimposed on the original reason for the student's failure as a consequence of the lag in studies. These reasons can also be varied, because schoolchildren do not respond in the same way to their academic failure. academic failure psychological social school

The psychological problems of unsuccessful schoolchildren have been studied and widely presented in the works of V.I. Zykova, Z. I. Kalmykova, N.A. Menchinskaya, N.I. Murachkovsky, A.M. Orlova, L.S. Slavina, S.F. Zhuikova, A.N. Tsymbalyuk and others (50-60s of the last century).

In a number of works of the 50-60s, combining the didactic and psychological aspects of the study of the problem, the idea was expressed about the need to typify unsuccessful schoolchildren in order to substantiate a differentiated approach to them in the mass school (L.S. Slavina).

Describing underperforming children, these authors distinguish two aspects: the learning ability of children and the nature of their performance, naming the following among the reasons for lagging behind: careless attitude of children towards learning; lack of a sense of duty; inattention; disorganization; impulsiveness; imbalance; passivity; lack of sufficient cognitive activity, etc.

In his research on learning disabilities, N.A. Menchinskaya, Z. I. Kalmykova et al. Gave a psychological characterization of underperforming schoolchildren, or "learners with learning disabilities," as they called them.

Psychological reasons that underlie academic failure, I.V. Dubrovina in her work "Working book of the school psychologist" were combined into two categories. The first category is represented by deficiencies in cognitive activity in the broad sense of the word, and the second category is represented by deficiencies in the development of the child's motivational sphere. The author examines the characteristics of children with learning difficulties, which are characterized by the lack of formation of correct teaching methods. Dubrovina believes that such a student simply does not know how to truly learn correctly, since to master educational activity, like any other, certain skills and techniques are required. Even simple actions for an adult, represented by counting in the mind, writing off letters according to a model, memorizing poems by heart, require the use of not one, but several different ways... Not all of these methods are correct, but equally effective.

Children who have entered school and are faced with a new learning activity for themselves, very often cannot independently find adequate ways to master this activity. If children do not know the necessary special skills and techniques, they will begin to intuitively find them themselves and, naturally, they are not always correct and effective.

I.V. Dubrovina believes that inadequate teaching methods can be more individualized.

Under the difficulties of educational activities of a younger student understands:

• - Missing letters in written works
• - Spelling errors with good knowledge of the rules
• - Inattention and distraction
• - Difficulty solving math problems
• - Restlessness
• - Difficulties in assimilating new tasks
• - Constant dirt in the notebook
• - Poor knowledge of the multiplication table (addition)
• - Difficulty completing assignments for independent work.

Any activity is carried out under the influence of some motive. According to A.N. Leont'ev, motive is an objectified need. Motives are closely related to emotions that give activity a particular color - positive or negative. For the quality of the activity performed, it is not at all indifferent how the subject relates to it.

This fully applies to activities for the assimilation of knowledge. The quality of assimilated knowledge and, consequently, the success of training largely depend on the motives that direct and regulate the student's activity, and on the subjective emotional coloring of this activity.

It is known that in the motivational sphere of each person at the same moment there are several motives guiding his activity, but not all of them have the same incentive.

The motives are hierarchically organized: among them are the leading, dominant, and secondary, subordinates. It is the leading motive that determines the emotional attitude of a person to the activity being performed and, as a consequence, the quality of its performance. For the success of educational activities, it is important which motive is dominant in the student, that is, in the name of what each student learns.

Psychologists A.F. Anufriev and S.N. Kostromina Possible psychological reasons for the failure of younger students:

Spelling errors, although any rule can be answered by heart, is a case of the so-called "underdevelopment of spelling vigilance." Possible reasons are as follows: low level of development of randomness, lack of formation of methods of educational activity, low level of volume and distribution of attention, low level of development of short-term memory, poor development of phonemic hearing.

The following reasons lead to inattention and absent-mindedness in the classroom: a low level of volitional development, a low level of attention span, a low level of concentration and stability of attention.

Difficulties in solving mathematical problems are caused by poorly developed logical thinking, a poor understanding of grammatical constructions, the lack of formation of the ability to focus on the system of signs, a low level of development of figurative thinking.

Difficulties in retelling the text can be caused by the lack of formation of the ability to plan their actions, poor development of logical memorization, a low level speech development and imaginative thinking, low self-esteem.

Restlessness in the classroom is most often caused by a low level of development of arbitrariness, individual-typological personality traits, and a low level of development of the volitional sphere.

Psychologists A.F. Anufriev and S.N. Kostromina identified the following reasons that lead to difficulties in understanding the teacher's explanation the first time: poor concentration of attention, unformed reception of educational activity, a low degree of perception and volition.

Ignorance of the addition (multiplication) table may be associated with a low level of development of mechanical memory and long-term memory, with a weak concentration of attention and with the unformed methods of educational activity.

Some of the children constantly forget school subjects at home. The reasons are a low level of volitional development, a low level of concentration and stability of attention, and the main reason is high emotional instability, increased impulsivity.

Special research by A.N. Tsymbalyuk, dedicated to the peculiarities of the cognitive activity of unsuccessful schoolchildren, made it possible to reveal that a significant part of them is characterized by the manifestation of inertia, stiffness, and lack of the necessary flexibility in completing tasks.

The author notes that any kind of mental activity is a great difficulty for such children, especially if the child needs to show mental effort and activity. Students of this category are distinguished by: low tone of cognitive activity; lack of formation of the motivational sphere; insufficient level of formation of mental operations; weak memory; lack of hard work.

L.S. Slavina identifies 5 groups of underperforming schoolchildren, depending on the main reason for the failure:

• 1) students who have a wrong attitude towards learning;
• 2) assimilating the material with difficulty;
• 3) schoolchildren who have not developed the skills and methods of educational work;
• 4) students who do not know how to work;
• 5) students who have no cognitive and educational interests.

The question of the relationship between different aspects of personality among schoolchildren of different groups remains open.

Unsuccessful schoolchildren are characterized by weak self-organization: inability to manage their own mental processes (attention, memory), lack of formed rational methods of educational work, unwillingness to think when solving educational problems, formal assimilation of knowledge; The study of the peculiarities of attention and memory showed that low indicators in memory and attention activity in unsuccessful schoolchildren are not the result of any pathological changes in these mental processes, they are explained by the lack of the necessary skills and habits to work correctly.

The division of underperforming children into types is based on various combinations of two main complexes of personality traits: Type 1 - characterized by the peculiarities of mental activity (associated with learning); Type 2 - characterized by the orientation of the personality, including the attitude to learning, the "internal position" of the student.

Relationships between the named complexes are possible:

• 1) the low quality of mental activity is combined with a positive attitude towards learning and the "preservation of the position" of the student;
• 2) the high quality of mental activity is combined with a negative attitude towards learning with a partial or even complete "loss of position" of the student;
• 3) the low quality of mental activity is combined with a negative attitude towards learning with a partial or complete "loss of position" of the student.

The originality of the combination and ratio of the selected properties determines the type of unsuccessful student, as well as the ways of overcoming the failure.

Thus, among the psychological factors, several areas can be distinguished that affect learning: cognitive, motivational, emotional-volitional.

In the cognitive sphere, the reasons for academic failure may be insufficient formation of certain qualities of cognitive processes in students: a low level of memory development (visual, auditory, kinesthetic), which underlies learning; insufficient organization of independent active work of thinking in the learning process and, as a consequence, the impossibility of applying the acquired knowledge in practice; insufficient level of development of attention properties, mainly distribution and switching; building a training program without taking into account the active channel of perception (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) in students.

The main reasons for school failure, caused by the emotional-volitional sphere, can be: high anxiety, which leads to deviant behavior and a decrease in the effectiveness of educational activities; Self-esteem also affects a child's success in school. A low level of self-esteem creates problems both in mastering the educational material and in relations with classmates and teachers. An inadequately high self-esteem can also lead to conflict situations between teacher and student, student and student. The formation of adequate self-esteem depends both on the teacher's attitude towards the child and on his position in the peer group. The lack of such strong-willed qualities as initiative, independence, organization can also negatively affect the school performance of a child. Failure of schoolchildren can be associated with low motivation for learning.

Anastasia Zheleznyakova

Hello everyone who will read my review. I would like to tell you my impressions and results of the treatment received at the center with Elena Viktorovna. First of all, I will tell you about my problem and how I got to this doctor. I am 32 years old. It was difficult to make my diagnosis, as a result, after a while, a somatoform autonomic disorder was put, but the initial diagnosis was axonal polyneuropathy, only with hypersensitivity.

Thanks to the children's club "Harmony"

I would like to say to the children's club "Harmony" and teacher Yulia Vladimirovna words of gratitude for the development of our child, Tyala Artem. As a mother, I am sincerely grateful to you from the bottom of my heart for the efforts and work that you have invested in the development of Artyom. When we turned to this club, my son was lagging behind in development and did not speak. During a short period of attending play lessons with a teacher, a course of Tomatis therapy, our Artyom began to change for the better before our eyes - an interest in cognitive activity appeared, the child began to speak, and after a while he began to ask questions ...