Article translated from Periódico Educación
In many educational centers, if not all, there are students in vulnerable situations suffering early adverse experiences, such as socioeconomic difficulties, family issues, violence, abuse, or neglect. These experiences have negative effects on the brain, emotional and cognitive development, as well as health, both in the present and the future. Some dreams in the minds of many professionals are: Can we, from educational centers, mitigate this damage and foster hopeful life trajectories? Can we create safe schools? Can we promote resilience?
There is evidence to help answer these questions, and, as often happens, it is very encouraging. Surely we have known people who faced adversity—some succeed, while others do not. Resilience makes this difference. Resilience can be defined as the ability to successfully overcome significant difficulties, and the hopeful news is that this ability can be taught.
What can we do from educational centers?
First of all, it is important to clarify that building resilience requires supportive relationships, which can come from a family member, a caregiver, or an adult. These relationships provide the personalized responsiveness, scaffolding, and protection that children need. Therefore, adults play a key role in offering support when children come to tell us about something that happened in the playground, the park, or the classroom. Downplaying the situation or failing to intervene would leave them without the support they need to help them learn resilient strategies such as planning, control, and behavioral regulation.
Secondly, we must understand that resilience is the result of a dynamic interaction between internal predispositions and external factors; it is the outcome of a combination of protective factors. Research has shown that programs focused on community, promoting kindness as something attractive, fostering a sense of friendship, and implementing bystander intervention are the ones that are successfully creating this protective environment that acts as a shield against adversity.
Saying phrases like “don’t get involved in other people’s problems,” which weakens support networks, or “give them a kiss, they’re your friend” when children tell us they’ve been treated badly, does not contribute to building resilience.
Thirdly, we must not forget that although some children are very sensitive to negative experiences, they are equally sensitive to environments that provide warmth and support. Support includes scaffolding in learning so that they develop a sense of self-efficacy and control. Support must also be present in the learning process, especially for students experiencing social adversity; neglecting this worsens their situation.
Lastly, it is important to remember that people never lose the ability to improve their coping skills. While it is true that the brain and biological systems are more adaptable in the early stages of life, and the development that occurs in the first years lays the foundation for a wide range of resilient behaviors, resilience continues to develop throughout life through the accumulation of experiences. Therefore, it is never too late.
To better understand how educational centers can promote resilience, we can use the image of the balance scale described by the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard:
Supportive relationships, evidence-based effective anti-violence programs, and scaffolding in learning, when added to one side of the scale, can counterbalance significant adversity on the other. When children’s health and development tip toward the positive side, it means that resilience is taking effect, even when there is a heavy load on the negative side.
We can all foster a culture of resilience and supportive relationships that encourage everyone to improve their learning, making transformative education a reality.
PhD in Education - Adjunct Professor at the University of Valencia.
For 23 years, she was a teacher of therapeutic pedagogy and primary education, and for 8 years, the director of CEIP L'Escolaica.