inspiring confidence with responsibility resilience: everyday courage morag kerr
TRANSCRIPT
Resilience – Everyday Courage
‘Courage is resilience to fear – mastery of fear, not absence of fear’ Mark Twain
Resilience
Why is it that some people can bounce back after experiencing difficult times and others are floored by the same experience
How would you define resilience?
‘Resilience is normal development under difficult circumstances’ (Fonaghy, 1994)
‘A set of qualities that help a person withstand many of the negative effects of adversity’
(Gilligan 2000)
Resilience: Why is it important?We all have things to
overcome
• Failure in exams• Illness• Accidents • Relationship problems• Financial problems • Disappointments• Unfairness• Bereavement • Challenges - rejection• Not getting that
interview, that job, that promotion
Life throws things at us
Resilience: Everyday Courage
Resilient young people are better equipped to resist stress and adversity, cope with change and uncertainty, and to recover faster and more completely from traumatic events or episodes.
(Newman and Blackburn, 2002)
Research shows it looks as if it is becoming harder for
young people to bounce back after setbacks.
What might be causing this?
What undermines resilience
• Sense of entitlement• Risk averse culture• Need to be ‘perfect’• Too much choice • Psychological cleanliness
Spotlight on the individual
1 in 10 children between aged 1 – 10 has a mental health problem.
Disorders affect 10.4% of boys aged 5 -11 and 5.9% of girls aged 5 -10.
This rises to 12% for boys aged 11- 15 and to 9.65% of girls aged 11 -15Mental Health Foundation stats
Depression linked to:
● poor academic achievement ● conduct problems ● substance abuse – drugs and
alcohol● teenage pregnancy self harm ● suicide
Cheer up.........
Tell your partner what you do to perk yourself up if you’ve had a bad day? What works best?
Tell your partner a couple of things you’re grateful for in life.
Resilience: can it be taught?
7 Learnable skills of Resilience
Emotional awareness Impulse control Optimism Causal Analysis Empathy Self-efficacy Reaching out
Dr Karen Reivich Ph.D.Pennsylvania UniversityDirector of the Penn Resiliency Programme
http://www.ppc.sas.upen.edu/prpsum.htm
Teaching Resilience: Bounce Back
Toni Noble Helen McGrath Professor at Australian Professor at RMIT University Catholic University (ACU)
Authors of Bounce Back A Well Being and Resilience Programme ABC thinking
Optimist or Pessimist?
The optimist would say The pessimist would say
Your partner/son/daughter phones to say they’ve had an accident with your car.
Mindsets
Carol Dweck Professor of Psychology, Stanford
UniversityAuthor - Mindset
‘ fixed mindset is based on the belief your qualities are carved in stone.........growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts’.
Growth and Fixed Mindsets
Growth FixedDoes not believe
potential is fixedSeeks out new
challengesPuts success down
to factors within control
Sets positive goals and copes with setbacks/failure
Ability is fixed from birth
Avoids challenges where there might be a possibility of failure
Puts success down to luck or other external factors
Does not believe effort makes any difference
Process Praise How you praise really makes a
difference...Focus praise on effort not ‘brains’ and ‘talent’
Being praised for being bright/smart/clever means when I make mistakes and fail ‘I’m stupid /dumb’ – Iwon’t risk that.
Making an Effort = I am thick Being praised for effort means that it’s ok
to have to persist, make mistakes, fail – this is what learning is so I can take a risk
Dweck: Develop a growth mindset
• The Power of ‘yet’• Mind your language • Teach pupils that their brain is
continually developing and changing – use it or lose it!
• Praise persistence and acknowledge effort
Three building blocks of resilience
Secure base / sense of security and attachment – connectedness
Self-esteem – belief in own worth
Self-efficacy – confidence in own ability
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Resilient people can say:‘I HAVE………….…people I trust and
love’
‘I AM……………………..a loveable person’
‘I CAN…………find ways to solve problems’
Grotberg, E. (1997) ‘The international resilience project.’ In M. John (ed) A Charge against Society:The Child’s Right to Protection. London: Jessica Kingsley.
School Connectedness
• A sense of belonging to a good school• Meaningful participation & contribution • Opportunities for strengths to be affirmed• Opportunities for taking initiative• Pro-social, collaborative school culture• Physical and psychological safety at
school• Strong school rules about bullying &
violence
Young People’s Development
• Change is always possible• It may come from low–key and
unexpected sources• One small shift may produce
significant systemic change(Professor Robbie Gilligan, Adversity,
Resilience and Young People)
Improving Resilience
increasing our awareness of how our thoughts influence our emotions and behaviour and therefore how we can gain more control over them
avoiding ‘thinking traps’ such as always blaming yourself or others when things go wrong, assuming a bad situation will be permanent
Do a reality check, double-check the facts, do you have evidence for what you think?
Improving resilience
challenging deep beliefs that may be working against us such as ‘I must never make mistakes’ or ‘adults should be perfect’
putting things in perspective – don’t catastrophise
learning to calm yourself down at
times of stress