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How Schools Enhance the Development of Young People’s Resilience

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Abstract

Using a social ecological understanding of resilience, this position paper explores how schools in different contexts and across cultures influence student resilience by providing them with seven resources that are associated with better developmental outcomes for children: (1) access to material resources; (2) access to supportive relationships; (3) development of a desirable personal identity; (4) experiences of power and control; (5) adherence to cultural traditions; (6) experiences of social justice; and (7) experiences of social cohesion with others. Drawing on results from studies around the world that have assessed these seven factors, this paper makes the case that educational institutions, in collaboration with families and communities, are a form of psychosocial intervention that can improve children’s resilience. Positive outcomes are most likely when there are opportunities for children to experience support for multiple coping strategies that respond to the challenges they find in different environments at school and in their communities. Our review of the research suggests that schools may have the greatest impact on resilience among children who are the most disadvantaged.

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Acknowledgements

Funding was provided by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Grant No. 885-2008-1000).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience, Dalhousie University, PO Box 15000, Halifax, B3H 4R2, Canada

    Michael Ungar

  2. Policy and Knowledge Mobilization, The Learning Partnership, 45 Sheppard Ave. East, Suite 400, Toronto, ON, M2N 5W9, Canada

    Gerry Connelly

  3. Dalhousie University, PO Box 15000, Halifax, B3H 4R2, Canada

    Linda Liebenberg

  4. Department of Educational Psychology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    Linda Theron

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  1. Michael Ungar
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  2. Gerry Connelly
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  3. Linda Liebenberg
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  4. Linda Theron
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Correspondence to Michael Ungar.

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Ungar, M., Connelly, G., Liebenberg, L. et al. How Schools Enhance the Development of Young People’s Resilience. Soc Indic Res 145, 615–627 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-017-1728-8

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