Resilience is the ability to recover from setbacks or failure, the ability to adapt to challenging situations and bouncing back stronger. The term resilience is also referred to as mental toughness which is linked more with stress, pressure and challenge.[i]
Young people need resilience to learn effectively and they often exhibit more resilience in some subjects than others. I have certainly noticed this in many of my own students over the years, as well as in my own children!
Resilience is skill that employers increasingly want to see in their employees and recently, when a school staffing body were asked which skill was the most important for students to have when they leave compulsory education, resilience was voted number one.
The following indicators (adapted from Positivepsychology.com) have helped me to see what resilience looks like in my classroom:
- Learners make connections with others to build a social support network and can seek assistance from other people.
- Learners are willing to overcome difficulties rather than avoiding problems.
- Learners accept that change is a natural and unavoidable part of life.
- Learners set goals with realistic expectations and accept their own strengths and weaknesses.
- Learners take decisive action that help them face challenges and learn from mistakes.
- Learners look for opportunities that promote self discovery.
- Learners have cultivated a positive view of them self and their abilities. They think optimistically.
[i] Courtney Ackermann positivepsychology.com What is Resilience and Why is It Important to Bounce Back? (positivepsychology.com)
Resilience in the Drama classroom
The Drama classroom is a great place to nurture resilience. As Drama teachers and practitioners, we do this as a natural part of planning and delivering lessons and workshops. In a typical lesson, there may be a low stakes starter activity to check prior knowledge or a retrieval practice exercise. A small win at the start of the lesson gives learners a pinch of confidence and self esteem which will power them to the next activity. Group work usually follows and fosters collaboration and social support, which is a key indicator of resilience. It is here where we teachers, begin to see which of our learners perhaps have lower resilience or finding this peer interaction tough. We use these, often intuitive, observations to plan support in the following lesson. Increasingly, I am seeing students who are reluctant to perform in front of their peers and higher anxiety levels around exam performances and this needs addressing.
My first lesson of the new term
With many of my classes, from KS3 through to A level, my first lesson is usually a ‘getting to know you’ team building type lesson. This year, I am shifting the focus to building resilience, using activities which involve positive teamwork, adapting to change, helping each other and overcoming problems.
This first lesson will also allow me to gain an insight into the resilience level of the learners in my class and as a result, I can plan and adapt my future lessons to be more focused on building resilience, if needed.
My ‘8 activities to build resilience’ lesson is available to download, for free, at the end of post and I would welcome feedback if you use any or all of the activities included. I am personally most excited to use number 6 ‘Style switch up’ and number 7 ‘Who’s in my group?’ with my new GCSE and A level groups!
My next blog will lead on from resilience with a focus on the importance of psychological safety in the classroom and how to nurture a positive drama space.
Thank you for reading my first blog post! I would welcome your feedback.
If you have any suggestions for topics you would like to see covered or resources, please get in touch, I would love to hear from you!
DOWNLOAD 8 activities to build resilience
