Building Resilience Boosts Success

The vocal majority in older generations often paint Millennials and now iGen youngsters with a stigma as being high in self-esteem but low in resilience. The validity of this stigma is debatable, but the benefit of high overall resilience within young people has been consistently documented in the social and educational psychology literature. So, if resilience is trainable (it is), then what is it, and what can we do to raise levels of resilience?

Resilience in children and adolescents serves as a protective factor that can help a young person to attain positive outcomes in the midst of harsh circumstances or challenges. For all students, let alone students with learning disabilities, school presents a series of varied challenges. Building resilience within our youngsters can help them face those challenges and facilitate positive outcomes. By understanding the five factors of resilience, educators and parents can work with our young people in a concentrated and deliberate manner, using techniques that have been documented to raise each individual factor:

• Personal Competence: Confidence in their own abilities and judgments, self-efficacy and realistic expectations.
• Structured Style: The preference of having and following routines, being organized, and setting clear goals and plans before undertaking activities.
• Social Competence: Levels of social warmth and flexibility, ability to establish friendships, and the positive use of humor.
• Social Resources: Availability of social support, whether they have a confidante outside the family, and whether they may turn to someone outside the family for help if needed.