Canadian Council on Learning | Conseil Canadien sur l'Apprentissage

International Dialogue on Resilience: Promising Practices for School Systems

Ottawa, November 29–December 1, 2009

Dialogue Proceedings
by Eva Oberle

Background

In November–December 2009, the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) and the Robert Bosch Foundation brought together an international group of experts in the field of resilience to discuss approaches to promoting and enhancing resilience in German and Canadian children and youth. The participating researchers, practitioners and policy-makers were from Canada and Germany, along with a selected group of experts from Australia and the United States. The aim of the international dialogue was to discuss practical approaches to promoting resilience in children and youth as learners, drawing on a wide spectrum of international expertise in education and thus, learning from each other’s experiences.

Objectives of the Meeting:

• To discuss practical and holistic approaches to fostering resilience in children and youth;
• To identify effective strategies for schools and educators to enhance resilience;
• To identify opportunities for supportive partnerships in resilience initiatives;
• To bridge the gap between research and practice in the field of resilience;
• To identify current barriers for resilience initiatives, and possible solutions for overcoming those barriers;
• To define criteria of success in resilience initiatives, and establish ground rules of evaluating programs through research; and
• To learn how other fellow practitioners and policy-makers have established and maintained resilience-enhancing programs successfully.

Description

The main barriers that were identified in moving toward an education system that prioritizes resilience—both, in Germany and Canada—were the lack of resources for schools, too much demand on teachers who have too little training in a strengths-based approach, missing communication and partnership between schools, families and communities, and the difficulty of translating the highly complex, sometimes even contradictory definitions of resilience into practice.     

Key Messages of the Dialogue:

1. Concerning the individual:

• All children and youth have potential; the key is to create opportunities for students to discover their potential and experience success;
• There are many ways to competence; competences are not bound to the ‘Three R’s’: reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic;
• Children and youth do not only live in the school environment, therefore, the need to measure competences beyond the school; and
• Obtain the students’ perspective of their own learning experiences.

2. Concerning schools, practitioners and public policy:

• Resilience needs to be enhanced from within a healthy, positive and strengths-based education system;
• Teachers need to be given the necessary resources to teach with a positive developmental approach;
• Practitioners need to work closely with families and communities; and
• Public policy has to be child- and family-centered.

3. Concerning programs:

• Programs to enhance resilience need to be holistic and culturally sensitive, addressing multiple levels that contribute to child well-being and positive youth development.

4. Concerning research:

• Resilience initiatives need to be evaluated with appropriate and psychometrically and methodologically sound methods; and
• Knowledge translation is necessary to translate the complex construct of resilience into practice.  

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