I think it is safe to say that 2020 has not turned out like we all would have predicted. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on the lives of everyone across the world and the uncertainty and changes it has imposed upon our societies continue to be felt throughout the globe. If there is one psychological factor that I think has helped people to cope with and come through the crisis, it would have to be resilience.

The development of the RISE programme

The Resiliency in Schools and Education (RISE) programme is an evidence-based programme, grounded in resiliency research. We created this to give schools and teachers the tools they will need to best support build up children’s resiliency. While the principals and strategies are especially timely as children return to school following extended periods away, we also know that building children’s resiliency is always an important endeavour to protect and improve wellbeing, and to enable children to flourish and thrive.

The RISE programme is an intensive teacher course based upon eight well-established and fundamental pillars of resiliency which collectively encompass all of children’s important resiliency capacity…

The Importance of Resiliency

Resiliency refers to the capacity of an individual to cope with, adapt and respond to challenge, difficulty and adversity. It is not the absence or avoidance of distress or hardship, rather, resilience is the ability to confidently face challenges, adapt and even grow as a result of these.

The research literature (consisting of over 4,000 journal articles, and hundreds of relevant books at the time of writing), demonstrates that resiliency is one of the most significant factors in determining progress, success and wellbeing of children in their education, with resilient children better equipped to (amongst other things) overcome setbacks, form positive social relationships and develop personal and academic independence.

If we wish to develop resiliency in our children, it would be prudent initially to think about the differences between those able to show resiliency, and those who struggle to do so…

Education in a time of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a testing time for us all and it has taken a lot of effort for even those of us fortunate enough to have suffered no significant hardship, to come to terms with ‘the new normal’. As the lockdown begins to ease, thoughts are beginning to turn to what happens next; namely when and how we can safely get our children settled back into education. Children will need to be more courageous, resourceful, robust and independent than ever before to thrive after the challenges the coronavirus pandemic has posed and will continue to pose.