Resilience and well-being
The outcomes of bullying, harassment, child abuse and violence are affected by a number of factors, a critical one being the resilience of the young person. The greater someone's resilience the less likely they are to relate to others in a defensive or aggressive way. They are also more likely to be able to 'bounce back' from stressful situations.
Australian and international research shows time and time again that a school can contribute to a young person's resilience by providing an environment where there are caring relationships, high but achievable expectations and opportunities for participation and contribution.
There are many resources and programs available to schools to support the building of resilience in students. MindMatters is a good place to begin. Although this is intended for secondary students, the three overarching documents (SchoolMatters, CommunityMatters, and Educating for Life) are applicable to any schools. They can be downloaded from the MindMatters website http://www.mindmatters.edu.au/default.asp
- Imagine if an audit was undertaken of all children in the school to determine the extent to which they experienced these three resilience-building factors.
- While the diagram has 'student resilience' at its centre, do you think that this could be replaced by 'staff resilience'?
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