Setting the stage: The importance of building resilience in adolescents for improved learning and wellbeing

• In Event: Unpacking resilience: a social-ecological approach to understanding the ‘best practice’ strategies, supports, and resources that foster adolescent learning & wellbeing

Proposal

Focusing attention on adolescence resilience is not only a smart investment but critical to their overall social, emotional, cognitive and socio-economic wellbeing. During adolescence life long behaviors are formed, risk factors increased, and protective factors are most critical because they equip adolescents with the knowledge, skills and tools needed to thrive and strive (Gould, 2017). When young people are involved in resilience-based learning interventions their protective factors increase and their risk-factors decrease. Empowering adolescence through experiential and resiliency based learning approaches improves will help them improve their learning, development and overall wellbeing. Additionally, when adolescents are empowered and have resilience they are more likely to improve their livelihood, which can have a positive economic impact on their families and communities (McCarthy, Brady & Hallman, 2016).

Adolescents need to be able to exhibit resilience during personal challenges, make informed decisions as citizens, and contribute to the strengthening of their family, community and nation. Successful passage through adolescence into adulthood requires that adolescents have opportunities to learn and develop (Gould, 2017).

Creating an enabling environment where adolescents are afforded the opportunity to build their competencies in social and emotional skills to improve their resilience is critical to their success. Resilience is a dynamic and relational concept, which can best be understood across a social-ecological lens. The social-ecological model of adolescent’s resilience provides an understanding of the dynamic interrelations among various personal and environmental factors. This presentation will focus on the importance of adolescent’s resilience across the social-ecological model as a means to fostering improved learning and wellbeing. An intentional focus of this presentation will be on the improved social-emotional wellbeing of adolescents during this very critical period of their development and its impact on their learning, relationships and livelihoods. Resiliency based learning interventions that teach social-emotional skills strengthens the healing and coping mechanisms of adolescents needed to deal with adversity, violence and suffering and contributes to their academic and livelihood success (Varela et al., 2013).

This presentation will set the stage and provide an overview of resilience and its cost-benefit in fostering learning and wellbeing in adolescents. I will provide a frame through which to understand resilience, adolescent development and wellbeing. Additionally, the presentation will include social-ecological model theory and evidence across cultural context and setting. Lastly, it will include best practices in resiliency based educational interventions and the promotion of protective factors that contribute to improved learning and wellbeing for adolescents.

Author

• Meridith Gould, Independent Consultant