A startling truth
Learning is impossible without resilience: that tendency to be ready, willing and able to lock onto learning – knowing how to work through difficulties when the pressure mounts or the going gets tough. Without a willingness to stay engaged, research tells us that we tend to revert prematurely into defensive mode which, although it maintains our security it does nothing to increase mastery. Loss of resilience breeds a brittle and impatient attitude.
All these beliefs and anxieties can affect anyone. The massive disruption to life caused by COVID 19 and the growing hardships from the rising cost of living has meant many children have become disconnected from their former patterns of learning. Even the keenest are likely to have lost their edge of concentration while others are feeling adrift and appear unwilling to learn at all. Signs of stress such as anxiety, recklessness, depression and self doubt are likely to show themselves, and learning will have become a challenge – their Resilience being a casualty.
We know from research that resilience is the foundation of emotional tolerance and that without resilience in one form or another, learning becomes impossible. Time lost to learning cannot easily be recovered , catch-up is proving elusive.
But research also shows that a resilient frame of mind can be nurtured and developed by engaging classroom cultures tended by thoughtful teachers. It takes time but the sooner it starts the sooner the benefits start to show, with often surprising quick wins.
This resource is designed to help teachers to enable their students grow and secure those learning behaviours that contribute to being a Resilient learner.
The resource draws on ideas teachers have developed for building their students’ resilience. Based on a background of sound research it offers you rapid access to classroom-focused material that will help to re-energise, revive and develop students’ emotional learning dispositions and behaviours.
A simple framework for a wide range of activity
Re-energising Your Learners’ Resilience addresses;
- four aspects of Resilience in students, across
- four levels of growth, with
- practical packages of ideas, across
- four aspects of teaching practice.
This four-by-four framework is presented in a simple grid, illustrated below.
How the resource is designed.
The big ambition of the resource.
The four aspects of Resilience are being able to;
- deal with being stuck, the strategies students can use for overcoming it
- manage distractions, ensuring continuing engagement with learning.
- rise to the challenge, learning to enjoy challenge and the satisfaction of triumphing over difficulty
- work towards goals, learning to design goals and pursue them with tenacity and independence
The four stages of growth are about students developing their learning attitudes;
- from being unwilling to engage, saying ‘I can’t or I won’t ‘to asking for help, saying ‘show me, tell me’ (‘Lacks’ to ‘Receives’)
- from asking for help, saying ‘show me or tell me’ to trying for themselves, saying ‘I’ll try’ (‘Receives’ to ‘Responds,)
- from trying for themselves, saying ‘I’ll try’ to recognising the value, saying ‘I see why’ (‘Responds’ to ‘Values, )
- from recognising the value, saying ‘I see why’ to organising themselves to do it, saying ‘I’ll make sure’ (‘Values’ to ‘Organises’)
The four aspects of teaching are about;
- devolving responsibility for learning to students (things you can give away)
- a language to help students understand learning as a process (things you can say)
- classroom routines that will nurture resilience (things you can do every day)
- the look and feel of the classroom that serves to strengthen students’ resilience (things you can display)
Clicking on any one of the sixteen yellow cells will take you into the corresponding package. The pattern of these activities is consistent across all sixteen packages, so you will quickly become familiar with the approach.
Beyond the 16 cells of activities the framework also offers;
- Background know-how (the green cells along the bottom) summarising the sort of thing you need to know before tackling any particular column. It explains;
- the learning behaviour in question
- the stages of growth and how they work
- the components of a learning friendly classroom
- how to use two questionnaires. One that explores where your students are now. One that explores your current approach to classroom cultures. It would be useful to complete the questionnaires before seeking relevant activities.
- Emotional outcomes (blue cells on the right) summarise what learners might be like as a result of absorbing the feelings and action of the activities over time; the sort of changes you will want to look out for in your learners over the next few months.
Getting Started
Finding your way around the resource . . .
The table below, a shortened version, is the means of navigating this resource. The yellow and green cells are interactive; clicking on the text will take you to the relevant section. Clicking top left will bring you back to this page.
This table appears at the end of every section offering you easy access to all the resources.
Importantly, please start each column with the green cell in the bottom row – labelled ‘Discover xxx’. It is here you will find 2 quizzes that offer useful starting points for exploring the teaching ideas that lie behind the 16 yellow cells.
| Dealing with being stuck… | Managing distraction… | Rising to challenge… | Working towards goals… | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| From ‘I see why’ to ‘I’ll make sure’: Values to Organises | … become curious finder outers. | … become highly focused. | … relish challenge. | … confident achiever of own goals. |
| From ‘I’ll try’ to ‘I see why’: Responds to Values | … analyse mistakes and failures. | … manage their environment. | … take risks and change plans. | … plan and reflect on their own practice. |
| From ‘Show me/tell me’ to I’ll try’: Receives to Responds | … understand why they are stuck. | … overcome their distractions. | … take on challenge confidently. | … achieve realistic goals. |
| From ‘I can’t’ to ‘Show me/tell me’: Lacks to Receives | … comfortable about being stuck. | … understand distraction and focus. | … comfortable about making mistakes. | … see the point and value of goals. |
| Important Know – How: Start here.Work up ➡️ | Discover ‘Dealing with Stuck’ | Discover ‘Managing Distraction’ | Discover ‘Rising to Challenge’ | Discover ‘Working towards Goals’ |
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