According to Rudolf Dreikurs, no child is inadequate, but the child him/herself may feel inadequate. These children feel very discouraged and often avoid trying at all. Although these students do not often cause disruptions, they make the teachers and support staff feel quite discouraged as well, often causing a viscious cycle of discouragement on both the student and the teacher.

The authors state that the belief of the child displaying assumed inadequacy is that they give up and want to be left alone, but in actual fact, they are crying out for the adults around them to not give up on them. Showing these students a small step will help them considerably in the direction of feeling adequate.

Once again, making connections with the students will help to improve this feeling of inadequacy. A feeling of connection will help improve the child’s engagement in learning thus increasing their successes.

One of my students fell into this caegory. She struggled with school and with friendships. Her attendance at school was low and she would craft more than complete any assignments. Her and I worked on both of these areas over the past school year. By part way through the school year, my girl had made a group of friends and was coming to school more often. She learned how to use Google Read and Write and YouTube to complete research projects on topics of interest. She felt successful at school due to these two small improvements and she had her most successful year at school yet.

1. Have you ever encountered a child with the mistaken goal of assumed inadequacy? Were you able to break through with the child? If so, how?