In recent years there has been a tendency to describe some families or individuals as “dysfunctional”. This description, often based oninadequate evidence, seemed to offer some kind of explanation to teachers as to why the children of families so described, failed to adapt to, or make satisfactory progress in the school system. I always regretted the label of dysfunction as it appeared to me to obscure the promise and potential that resides in each and every one of us. Seeing our students through the lens of a deficit model results in a failure to recognise their capacities and strengths. It gives way to a kind of attribution theory which places blame on parents, neighbourhood factors, poverty and life circumstances. This view is defeatist on the part of the teacher, and may lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy whereby teachers assume that many of their students are “lost causes”. This perceived sense of helplessness on the part of the teacher does little to eliminate many of the difficulties experienced by their students. Were the teachers to think of their students as being “at promise” rather than “at risk,” the situation for both teacher and students could be very different. It is true that there are many students in our schools who come from environments that may not offer them many protective factors in their developing lives. It is this very reality that makes it centrally important for teachers to have confidence in their ability to counteract the adversity experienced by their students, and to believe that they can create capacity for these vulnerable young people. Working out of a concept of resilience helps teachers to have confidence in the worth and the centrality of their profession. It gives teachers a framework by which they see themselves not only as enactors of curriculum in their specialist domain, but as vital in fostering healthy and resilient youth.

What is Resilience?

Resilience is the capacity to adapt and to succeed against the odds. It is the ability of the individual to transcend adverse circumstances and to cope with difficulties that may prevail. Resilience is not a given, and its development is a process. It can be fostered and learned, and because of this, the role of the teacher is pivotal, as it may be a teacher who is the key player in helping a young person to build resilience. The skills of resilience involve 
1) social competence – the ability to form and to sustain relationships, 
2) metacognition – problem solving competencies, 3) autonomy – the acquisition of a sense of identity, and 
4) the will to be forward looking, and to plan for a future with hope and with purpose. True, there are many aspects of the official curriculum that aim to achieve some of those competencies in our students, and many pedagogical practices are aligned with them, but there are more subtle factors in operation in a school that can promote the resilience agenda.

How can schools help?

The research on resilience points up how teachers, often without knowing it, can help to build a platform for their students, a platform that helps them to counteract negative forces in their lives. The teacher-mediated behaviours meet the student needs for safety, love and belonging, respect, power, mastery and learning, and ultimately for meaning. These behaviours are as follows: 

Caring Relationships

 Teachers can provide support for students by teaching in an engaging and sensitive way, but also by listening to students, by validating their feelings, and by showing kindness, compassion and respect. 

 Such teachers do not rush to judge, nor do they take student behaviour personally. They seek first to understand, and then to be understood. Admittedly, this may be difficult in the cut and thrust of a busy day in school. But if this is the in his/her interactions with a student, the outcomes for both parties are apt to be positive, while valuable life skills are developed in the young person who is seeking to find his/her way in a chaotic world.

High Expectations 

Teachers who hold high and positive expectations for their students help to structure and to guide behaviours, while simultaneously enhancing selfesteem. The high expectations push students out of their comfort zone and challenge them to attain at levels beyond what they had set for themselves. These teachers locate student strengths and interests, and use these to motivate students to higher than expected goals and attainments. This approach is in marked contrast to one which puts a ceiling on student attainment, and that determines prematurely that students are unlikely to change or grow. The Pygmalion effect is very powerful indeed. Where teachers transmit a belief and a confidence that their students can succeed, it is transformational, especially for those students who may have been oppressed earlier by other teachers, or by their families or communities. These student-centred teachers help their students to deal with their adversity, not to take it personally, not to see it as permanent, and to see setbacks as transient and as growth points. These teachers act as advocates for their students and they model behaviour that is respectful and accepting.

Opportunities to Participate and to Contribute

 Schools that listen tothe voice of the student, and that involve as appropriate, their students in the life of the school, are schools that are contributing to the development of personal responsibility in their cohort, while fostering democratic values and orientations. The empowerment of students benefits not only the individual students involved, but also community and society. There is ample evidence of the merits that ensue when young students are trusted, and where responsibility is shared with them in aspects of life in school and beyond. Participation of a meaningful nature in school transfers to other settings as school-to-work programmes, and initiatives at community level testify. Responsible citizenry is a likely by-product, and we are acutely aware of just how pressing a concern this is for us all today.

Conclusion

The research literature on resilience stresses that successful development and transformational power exist not so much in structured programmes per se, but rather in the relationships that characterise a school, the beliefs and expectations, the values, the willingness of the school to share power through the active involvement of students. The caring relationships should permeate the fabric of the school and operate not just between teachers and students, but also between students – students, staff – staff, staff-parents etc. The skills of problem solving and conflict resolution need to be taught Small – group processes may be needed to build cohesion and to foster a sense of belonging. Schools that adopt this approach are both pastoral and student-centred. IAPCE is committed to developing and supporting such schools.

Dr. Maeve Martin is a senior lecturer in
Psychology at the Education
Department, NUI, Maynooth.