You're so clever!

An individual's understanding of the relationship between diligent study and academic success is critical.

Some children seem born with a talent for learning - they pick up concepts quickly and often don't have to study much at all in the early years of school (up to Year 10 or so) to achieve good grades. It's these children who will often receive praise from well-meaning adults, telling them they're clever.

Problems arise when these children become teens and reach the latter years of school. Suddenly their 'natural smarts' and cleverness don't get them through anymore - the work becomes concept- and content-heavy, and study is necessary. With a sudden increase in difficulty, it's these adolescents who are vulnerable to believing that they can't do it any more - that they have reached the limits of their intellectual ability. In actual fact, they've simply reached the limit of their 'natural smarts' to get them through on minimal study, but not the limit of their capacity as a learner. However, convincing them of this is much harder than you realise.

So if you're going to praise a child on their learning ability, praise their effort and application to their work, rather than their innate ability. By pairing effort with success, children can avoid that sense of hopelessness and helplessness that arises when their 'natural smarts' eventually let them down.