Guest essay: Nurture children’s resilience
Two students with the same backgrounds take exactly the same path in school. One drops out when he is 16 and the other goes into an advanced high school program and eventually goes onto college. Why?
There is overwhelming evidence based on years of research that tells us that resilience is the key to success.
Adversity and the baggage that accompany poverty can be overcome if something or someone sparks the student in a positive way. This is usually not accomplished through a brief encounter or some powerful but momentary interaction.
Resilient students establish close bonds with caring adults, but they are also comforted by school cultures that facilitate and promote positive relationships, pro-social behavior and high expectations. This plan must be deliberate and be interwoven into the school curriculum.
In summary, schools need to do a much better job of addressing the social, emotional, physical and moral development of young people.
Unfortunately, Rochester schools spend far too much time focusing on a narrow set of cognitive skills.
Does academic achievement matter? Of course it does, but when will we learn that the foundation for sustained academic growth must be must more personal?
School cultures must be supportive, inspiring and caring. It is up to the principal, teachers and others in the school to set up and sustain this culture.
This is no small task.
City schools leaders would get much better results if they stopped their obsession with efficiencies, processes and policies and spent much more time in the schools working with school staff to establish environments that heal the heart. If we want young minds to grow, the plan must address their unique developmental needs.
School cultures need to cultivate resilience. Parents, teachers and school leaders need to be the primary farmers caring for one student at a time. It is time for district officials to give up the crop duster approach.
Bliss is a City School District parent and educator, as well as founder of the Urban Choice Charter School.