Have you wondered what is resilience? Read further to find the answer. Because student resilience is an important topic. Just like any adult, young students need flexibility and adaptability skills too. Young learners need to bounce back on a day-to-day basis in their quick-paced structured student life.
Students deal with expectations from parents and teachers. They deal with peer issues. Do you think it’s no big deal? Think, don’t we all face some challenges in our lives? You could be dealing with prickly challenges in relationships, family matters, workplace issues, health difficulties, completing goals, and financial challenges?
They can impact overall well-being. Even then we manage to deal with these issues. We overcome many difficulties whenever they arise. It is our resilience that helps us overcome. Similarly, young students have to be pliant and responsive too.
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What do we mean by resilience?
In the context of human qualities, resilience is the ability of a person to recover from distressing situations. Recovering from unusually stressful life situations is not a cakewalk. It takes time and patience to withstand tiring circumstances. But when you overcome these times and look back, you will find you have grown as a person. Understanding resilience is essential for navigating life in an uncertain world. Resilience helps overcome adversity and grow.
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What is resilience made of?
You need strength and coping mechanisms to spring back. There may not be a road map on what to do and how to deal with the situations. Maybe you cannot share with others what you are going through. For some, help may not be available. Sometimes, there may be supportive people around you. In some cases, there could be no visible end to difficult times or ways to reduce the disruption.
There could be financial, health or social dimensions to life events. Resilience means working through some sort of trouble. All things considered, there could be emotional upheaval. Does this mean we need to bounce back only from big situations? Do we need buoyancy in small daily upsets? Yes, we need resilience even in the smallest of daily difficult situations.
Overcoming difficulties requires strength to process or comprehend the situations. Buoyancy is a by-product of a growth mindset. A belief that you can learn to cope with any situation. It’s necessary to acknowledge feelings and have self-belief. This helps us to adapt and form strategies to cope. We need positive coping techniques to manage emotions.
A non-judgemental mindset will help to build healthy self esteem. In times of adversity, carry on efforts to bring change with a belief that this too shall pass. Having a purpose and a vision will help young students and give them hope. Encourage young students to collaborate and learn from peers, provided they understand the essential agreements of collaborative work.
How to build students resilience?
Positive thinking helps in building resilience. Challenges can be turned into learning and growth opportunities to boost mental power. Strong social connections cushion hard circumstances. Building a supportive network provides emotional and practical support, fostering resilience. Resilient people have coping skills. The ability to solve problems, regulate emotions, and ask for help are examples of resilience.
The pandemic caused major upheaval in the lives of many children. It impacted almost every area of their everyday existence. Parents and teachers can’t always change children’s circumstances. Neither can they protect students from pain. Parents and educators may empower them by giving them the skills to deal with difficulty.
Adults are crucial in fostering student’s resolve. You can build student’s capacity to endure challenging situations in both education and life in general. Teachers can support children in developing resilience. Encourage them to see challenges as essential components of success.
This will normalize facing challenges. It is not a hereditary trait to be resilient. It is based on how students learn to interpret things when confronted with both big and small challenges.
Young people are supported in their efforts to develop emotional elasticity by the adults in their lives. Caregivers, instructors, teachers and trainers are better able to help youngsters. Build their emotional muscle by giving them a positive view of themselves despite facing challenges.
Students learn to bounce back from challenges and move forward when they form a positive outlook toward themselves. Read books for strategies on how to support yourself and students during challenging times.
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Examples of student difficulties that need resilience.
Students go through diverse situations so they try to make sense of what’s happening in their lives.
- Change schools,
- Transit from kindergarten to primary and so on,
- Shift residences,
- Lose old friends,
- Make new friends,
- Have differences with peers,
- Accept new teachers,
- Part with old teachers,
- Dealing with sibling rivalry and comparisons,
- Struggling to form positive self-image,
- Forming healthy habits and overcoming unhealthy ones,
- Suffering bullying by siblings, peers, or elders,
- Difficulty in learning new sports/hobbies,
- Physical illness,
- Challenges in family, such as divorce or separation,
- Fitting in new peer groups,
- Differences in opinions with family and peers,
- Difficulty in learning,
- Dealing with expectations,
- Keeping pace with trends and fashion,
- Trying to look cool and smart,
- Facing criticism from teachers,
- Defending themselves from emotional, physical and sexual abuse,
- Interacting on online platforms,
- Dealing with stereotypical role models vs their own characteristics,
Non-fiction Best books on resilience for teachers
Fiction Books on resilience for children
Nimmi’s Spectabulous Schooldays
Conclusion
Every day, students progress a great deal in both their physical and mental abilities. They can face problems and recover from any difficulties they might face. Students have the highest chance of success when they bounce back from adversities. These skills help kids to learn and grow in every kind of circumstance.
They will master these skills when they face new circumstances and people. Equally important is doing activities with courage and a positive outlook. Students need to be able to express their feelings about events in their lives. Adults need to foster resilience skills in young students. Resilience is useful and important in a changing society. Start building resilience today and see how it changes your life.
Mental health and resilience are crucial in the digital age. Daily resilience-building actions can improve health and balance. Resilience protects against stress. By building resilience, you can manage stress and protect your mental health. Work Performance and Resilience are co-related, if you are resilient your work performance is better. Resilience transforms careers. Resilient employees are better at problem-solving, adapting, and handling workplace constraints.