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Awareness Through Education #11 – Reframing Resilience 

Last week I was fortunate enough to attend the Positive Schools Conference in Melbourne with Andy McNeilly. A number of universally renowned speakers were present, including Psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg, Finnish educator Pasi Sahlberg and wellbeing expert Dr. Helen Street.

Her presentation on resilience really struck a chord with me and I walked away from the conference with a totally different perspective on the topic. According to her, resilience IS NOT:

• Dependent on repeated adversity
• Our ability to avoid adversity
• Being ‘thick skinned’
• Our ability to ‘bounce back’
• Our ability to ‘push through’

Rather, resilience is our ability to manage and accept change. In order to do this, we must teach children to:

• Rethink stress, as negative emotions are valuable
• Allow children to take ownership of their challenges

In a modern world characterised by pandemics, social movements and rapid advancements in technology, I no longer wish for my children to be happy, but resilient instead. 

James Field

Inclusion Teacher

Week 7: Indonesia