Resilience & Youth Development
- overview of resilience theory
- related publications
- why does resilience matter?
- what does the resilience & youth development module (RYDM) measure?
Why Does Resilience Matter to Schools?
Years of research exploring healthy development and successful learning from various social science disciplines have found a strong relationship between healthy behaviors and academic success (Jessor and Jessor, 1977; Austin, 1991). The implication for schools is that a narrow focus on only cognitive development ignores other critical areas of youth development. Youth development is defined as the process of promoting the social, emotional, physical, moral, cognitive, and spiritual development of young people through meeting their needs for safety, love, belonging, respect, identity, power, challenge, mastery, and meaning. Schools can promote healthy behaviors as well as successful learning in young people by creating climates and teaching practices that honor and meet these developmental needs.
Furthermore, these studies across multiple disciplines are identifying a clear set of principles to guide education and prevention practice. Resilience research, the long-term studies of positive youth development in the face of environmental threat, stress, and risk succinctly identify these principles as caring relationships, high expectation messages, and opportunities for participation and contribution. These supports and opportunities, referred to as protective factors, have been linked to the development of resilience—broadly defined as the ability to rebound from adversity and achieve healthy development and successful learning. They should be available in all environments in a young person’s world: home, school, community, and peer groups.