Resilience is a term that is used a
lot but what does it really mean?
The concept of resilience developed from research looking at risk
factors for developing mental health problems and substance use.
Risk factors are those circumstances or experiences that increase
the possibility of a person developing a mental health problem or
illness, such as having a parent with a mental illness, being
bullied or abused, or experiencing a stressful life event. Research
showed that some young people, in spite of having a number of risk
factors, managed life's challenges effectively and did not develop
mental health problems. These people came to be described as
resilient, able to bounce back even under difficult circumstances.
Andrew Fuller describes resilience as " the happy knack of
being able to bungee jump through life's ups and downs". At a
recent staff development day I ran one teacher described resilience
as "being able to dig deep and find that inner strength to deal
with a tough time." Each of these descriptions I like.
However, the question for me has always been can you teach
resilience to students? Well researchers in the area are now
answering a resounding yes!
It seems the key to teaching resilience is to focus on building
and developing those key protective factors that are known to
reduce the risk of experiencing a mental health difficulty. The
Department of Health and Aged Care in 2000 released a publication
titled Promotion,
Prevention and Early Intervention for Mental Health. This
publication listed a range of known protective factors
including:
- being connected or belonging to a family, school or other
community group
- supportive school climate
- having at least one significant person to relate to and bond
with
- having personal skills and resilience to deal with difficult
situations
- good physical as well as mental health
- pro-social peer relationships
- opportunities for success, responsibility and recognition
Check out the Centre for Addiction
and Mental Health for a full list of the known protective
factors.
Over the next couple of weeks we will explore each of these
protective factors in more detail.
Today's post is going to explore one of the key protective factors
for young people, connection to school. This
connection can happen through a number of avenues:
School curriculum
Studies have shown that students who feel connected at school
report that it is because teachers use engaging teaching and
learning methods, a mix of cooperative and independent learning,
they provide opportunities for interaction with peers, learning
includes hands-on applications and they are given choices between
and within subjects (Withers and Russell, 2001).
School ethos
The overall ethos or culture of the school is identified as an
important contributor to engagement. This includes the formal
statements that a school uses to describe its values and mode of
operation, and the ways in which this operates in practice.
Students identify issues of 'respect' and 'fairness', and the
initiatives that the school takes to build and maintain these are
important to them. Many students will "judge" the culture of the
school through its acceptance of difference and diversity, and its
response to negative and discriminatory behaviour. Its not just
about the school community 'talking the talk' but whether
the school actually stands by its policies and walks the
walk.
Student/teacher
relationships
Young people identify their treatment by individual teachers as of
paramount importance. Relationships with significant adults have
been identified by young people in many studies as being central to
building and maintaining engagement. Those relationships include
elements of personal respect, lack of negative personal judgement,
consistency of treatment (between people and over time), and the
practice of shared decision-making.
Peer/social relationships
The other relationships highlighted by young people as important
to their school engagement, is that with peers. Similar issues of
consistency, lack of personal judgement and avoidance of conflict
are highlighted. How the school allows and supports such
relationships is also important. That perception that they are
liked and belong to a group is very important to young
people.
Join the discussion
Everyone has experiences to share when it comes to connecting
with students and making school an engaging, respectful and
suppotive place to be for young people. So let us know ...
- What strategies has your school used to support students to
feel connected?
- What practices have you used in your classroom to engage and
motivate students?
- What techniques have you found have helped you build a rapport
with your students?
Share your ideas, experiences, successes and challenges below
...