For students who are having a difficult time excelling in school, building trust with teachers and caring adults can help them cultivate confidence and a sense of belonging in academic settings. In a new KQED article, Co-Executive Director Andrew Fuligni explains that “adolescents are building an identity, which involves discovering things that you are good at,” and “many students mistakenly believe that academic ability is fixed rather than a developed skill.” By cultivating a growth culture in the classroom and providing positive feedback and affirmation, adults can help students cement a sense of belonging that can benefit their academic success and overall wellbeing.
Founding Director of CDA Ron Dahl is quoted in the new Science article about adolescence in the animal kingdom. According to Dahl, the common findings about adolescence that researchers have discovered across species could “have clinical and policy implications” for supporting human adolescents.
Stephen Russell, NSCA member and University of Texas at Austin professor of human development and family sciences, has been elected into the National Academy of Education. Russell studies adolescent development, with an emphasis on LGBTQ+ health and wellbeing. He holds the Amy Johnson McLaughlin Administrative Chair in Human Ecology and is the Priscilla Pond Flawn Regents Professor in Child Development at UT Austin, and he serves also as a professor of population health in the Dell Medical School.
