Many students of all ages are not successful because they believe they are going to fail before they even make the attempt. You must first inspire before you can educate Step one is to convince the students they can learn. It is difficult for students to have faith in their own ability to learn because they have failed so many times before. It is easier to convince them to have faith in you (the instructor) or in the learning techniques that you are employing.  Then much later you can explain it was not you but them that was smart all along