"The only way to be totally free is through education" - Jose Marti
Topic 11: Resiliency
A new branch of psychology emerged in the 1980’s: positive psychology. In this approach, rather than looking at what causes people to end up in harmful situations, psychologists started questioning those individuals who were healthy and establishing what allowed people to remain in a positive state of mind and how to promote those qualities. I enjoyed the topic of resiliency as it was a welcome reprieve from the weeks of negative investigation of adolescents.
Stress is a response to a perceived danger or threat (McMahan & Thompson, 2015) that is all too common among adolescents. Thanks to the pressures of puberty and the skewed perceptions that come along with it in the form of the personal fable and the imaginary audience, teens face an extreme amount of stress in their everyday events. Fortunately, individuals are equipped with natural coping strategies that generally fall into one of two broad categories: problem-focused coping, and emotion-focused coping. Problem-focused coping deals with managing the problem at hand is a solutions-based manner, while emotion-focused coping is a form of mental distraction or downplaying a problem that seems unsolvable (McMahan & Thompson, 2015). In general, adolescents with higher femininity prefer emotion-focused coping and those with higher masculinity prefer problem-focused coping (Renk & Creasey, 2003).
How do teens acquire these coping skills? Parents act as exemplars to show their children the outcome of different types of coping; teens with authoritative parents experience a positive response to self-determination theory in which they are supported in exploring their own coping strategies (Zimmer-Gembeck & Locke, 2007). In the classroom, adolescents can learn coping strategies if offered a supportive, warm, and demanding environment that reflects authoritative parenting (Shankland, Franca, Genolini, Guelfi, & Ionescu, 2009). Adolescents are also able to learn from their own experiences as will get better at coping with stress over time if they experience a positive reaction to coping mechanisms, this is where resilience comes into play (McMahan & Thompson, 2015). Resilience is the ability to develop normally under difficult conditions (Kolar, 2011; Masten, 2001; Masten & Reed, 2005). In class we discussed this definition of resilience and redefined it as a sustainable recovery process generated through effective adaptation in the face of adversity.
In our textbook we looked at the five C’s summarizing the basic goals of positive youth development (McMahan & Thompson, 2015), in our flex-learning activity and in class we examined Ken Ginsburg’s seven C’s as essential building blocks of resilience:
the 5 C’s
Competence
Confidence
Character
Connection
Caring
the 7 C’s
Competence
Confidence
Connection
Character
Contribution
Coping
Control
Let’s examine those goals and building blocks:
Competence - Teens feel good about what they do when they are effective in their skills.
Confidence - Confidence is built out of self-worth and self-efficacy (McMahan & Thompson, 2015).
Character - Both Ginsburg and McMahan & Thompson (2015) refer to the importance of integrity and understanding right from wrong.
Connection - Personal growth and security can result from positive relationships with individuals, schools, and communities.
Caring - This goal refers to having a sense of sympathy and compassion for others (McMahan & Thompson, 2015)
Contribution - Young people gain by giving, through contributing to the well-being of others, they gain confidence in the support of those around them.
Coping - Healthy coping strategies are key to handling stress in positive ways
Control - A sense of self-determination allows teens to take an active role in promoting a positive lifestyle for themselves
The support system I will provide to my students will be part of their external resources. Other external resources are the family, peer group, school, and community. These external resources can work as sources of social capital to offer adolescents access to opportunities for growth and development (McMahan & Thompson, 2015). Internal resources include the qualities of the individual which may change over time.
Teachers of adolescents face a daunting task of constantly being in combat with boredom. Sparking student interest is imperative to creating a positive, engaging environment. Higher levels of interest also support continued motivation and concentration (Renninger, 2000), so by creating interest, I can set the stage for a love of learning. A high level of interest is also related to increased confidence and a sense of control (McMahan & Thompson, 2015), so interest supports the 5 or 7 C’s.
Civic engagement and community service are important factors in developing a youth’s sense of self control, making adolescents understand that their opinion matters and that they can make a difference; these are necessary elements of a happy disposition. The three approaches to happiness outlined in our text are pursuit of pleasure, pursuit of meaning, and pursuit of engagement (McMahan & Thompson, 2015). All of these routes to happiness dependent on the existence of hope of a positive future (McMahan & Thompson, 2015).
As a reflective exercise we’ve been asked to identify the teacher’s main role in supporting resilience either in general or in one vulnerable group. I feel that the only way to answer this question is to look back on the goals or characteristics that adolescents need in order to support their own resiliency, the seven C’s. I will be able to act as a positive role model for thriving if I too possess the seven C’s and as such the most interactive and important aspects are connection and contribution. Through making connections both with my students and with others I can create a support network that is interactive and effective. My connections not only act to provide me with resilience, but they also create a pool of resources that I can use when addressing one of my future students as a connection in their resilience network. Beyond building strong connections with my students, so that they can see me as a trustworthy component of their lives, I will do my best to contribute to their well-being through participation in extracurricular programs. My contribution to the school community and the wider community will translate to less idle time for teens and more opportunities for them to build on their positive networks with other peers and caring adults.
Some resources that can help bring adolescent resiliency to fruition are:
Education Canada
http://www.cea-ace.ca/education-canada/article/teen-stress-our-schools
A comprehensive article on teen stress in schools, the StressOFF Strategies program, and coping mechanisms, and how stress management can be addressed in schools through an introductory program.
Resiliency Initiatives
http://www.resil.ca/tools/additional-resources/
A resource list for implementing positive psychology practices into the classroom with reference to both the general population and Aboriginal youth.
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
An online guide to developing resilience in youth that is intended to be built in to the regular curriculum, considered a “must read” for parents, teachers, and front-line workers.
Mental Health Foundation of Australia
A full web-based resource dedicated to building resiliency in youth, including “what schools can do” and “what parents can do” sections outlining key principles in fostering resiliency, targets for change in creating a resilience-promoting environment, and the role of the classroom teacher.
American Psychological Association
http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/bounce.aspx
10 tips to build resilience specifically for teens.
Citations
Kolar, K. (2011). Resilience: Revisiting the concept and its utility for social research. International Journal of Mental Health & Addiction, 9(4), 421-433.
Ginsburg, K. (n.d.). The 7 C’s: the essential building blocks of resilience. Fostering Resilience. Retrieved from: http://www.fosteringresilience.com/7cs.php
Masten, A. S. (2001). Ordinary magic: Resilience processes in development. American Psychologist, 56, 227-238.
Masten, A. S., & Reed, M.-G.J. (2005). Resilience in development. In C. R. Snyder & S.J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology. New York: Oxford University Press
McMahan, I. & Thompson, S. (2015). Adolescence: Canadian Edition. Toronto: Pearson
Renk, K., & Creasey, G. (2003). The relationship of gender, gender identity, and coping strategies in late adolescence. Journal of Adolescence, 26, 159-168.
Renninger, K. A. (2000). Individual interest and its implications for understanding intrinsic motivation. In C. Sansone & J.M. Harackiewicz (Eds.), Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: The search for optimal motivation and performance. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Shankland, R., Franca, L., Genolini, C. M., Guelfi, J., & Ionescu, S. (2009). preliminary study on the role of alternative educational pathways in promoting the use of problem-focused coping strategies. European Journal of Psychology of Education (Instituto Superior De Psicologia Aplicada), 24(4), 499-512.
Zimmer-Gembeck, M. J., & Locke, E. M. (2007). The socialization of adolescent coping behaviours: Relationships with families and teachers. Journal of Adolescence, 30(1), 1-16, doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2005.03.001
When teens are supported in their positive development they will make a positive impact on their environment as well (McMahan & Thompson, 2015). Therefore, by investing in my students success and ability to thrive, I will be promoting the construction of a better school environment. I can support student competence and control by working in the student's’ zone of proximal development and letting students independently fail and recover. By supporting the development of competence I will indirectly be fostering a sense of confidence in my students. I can also actively create an atmosphere that promotes positive reflection and self-worth. Setting clear goals for my students with established consequences will assist them in building character while at the same time they will know what to expect from me as an invested member of our relationship, a positive connection.In building opportunities for community involvement for individuals and organizations that need support I will promote the development of caring and contribution. Finally, by creating an authoritative-style learning environment I will foster the development of positive and effective coping skills that will support student resilience and ability to thrive.
Connections are an important building block in developing teen resiliency; those teens who feel alone will have greater difficulty achieving happiness.
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