Is strengths-based education the key to classroom confidence? - No Such Thing as Normal

Sonia Gray, host of the NZ Herald podcast No Such Thing as Normal, and Ella, who struggled with self-doubt in the classroom due to her dyslexia.

In primary school, Ella would sit in class trying to read.

But the words on the page were blurred and jumbled.

The rest of the class was moving up in their reading levels, and Ella was falling behind.

“People would say, ‘How do you not know how to do that? It’s simple’. And I’d think… ‘yeah, I guess I am dumb’.”

Ella is now 12. At the time, she didn’t understand why reading felt so much harder for her than it did for everyone else.

She was dyslexic. But the seed of self-doubt had already been planted.

For many children, school is where their story about themselves begins.

Reading, spelling and maths sit at the centre of how ability is measured in our education system, so it doesn’t take long for students who struggle with those skills to conclude that something must be wrong with them.

The debate about falling literacy and numeracy standards has dominated headlines in recent years. Governments, educators and commentators are grappling with how to lift achievement in what are often described as the “basics”.

But another trend has been quietly accelerating in the background: rising levels of anxiety and low self-esteem among young people.

Could these two trends be connected? When school focuses on narrow academic benchmarks, the many ways children think, learn and contribute can easily be overlooked.

Rather than focusing on deficits, strengths-based education asks a different question: what are the gifts these minds have to offer?

Sonia Gray explores this idea in the latest episode of No Such Thing as Normal, through the work of international dyslexic advocate Dean Bragonier.

Dean Bragonier is an international dyslexia advocate and founder of the the non-profit NoticeAbility.

Bragonier is the founder of NoticeAbility, a United States non-profit organisation that runs workshops helping dyslexic students identify their cognitive gifts. The Dyslexia Foundation of NZ was so impressed with his work it arranged for him to run a series of workshops here.

Bragonier says many dyslexic students spend years hearing what they can’t do.

“As a result, they’re so hungry for positive affirmation,” he says. “It doesn’t take much to activate that sense of self and pride because, quite literally, they’re starving for it.”

Although dyslexia is often framed in terms of reading difficulty, research increasingly points to unique and valuable strengths. This pattern is seen across neurodivergence, including in those with diagnoses like ADHD and autism.

For Ella, discovering one of those strengths came as a surprise.

At the NoticeAbility workshop in Auckland, students were asked to design a product and present it to the wider group. One student sketched the idea, another presented it, and Ella wrote the script.

Ella knew she was creative, but it was the first time she realised that creativity could extend to her writing. Like many dyslexic students, she’d been repeatedly criticised for her spelling and was convinced that meant she couldn’t write.

There’s no denying dyslexic students need to develop skills in numeracy and literacy, and many will require targeted support. But advocates of strengths-based education say that support needs to sit alongside something else: helping young people recognise what their minds are actually good at.

If we focus only on fixing weaknesses, something crucial is missed.

For students like Ella, recognising those strengths can counter the messages many have absorbed about what they can’t do.

When we can recognise difference as potential - rather than deficit - the benefits extend far beyond the classroom.

Hear the full story on the latest episode of No Such Thing As Normal.

No Such Thing as Normal is an NZ Herald podcast, hosted by Sonia Gray, with new episodes available every Saturday.

Made with the support of NZ on Air.

You can listen to it on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.