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 FROM THE DIRECTOR:
Resiliency-A
Paradigm Shift for Schools
Karen Seashore Louis, Interim Director, CAREI
Resilient-the word calls up such positive images as determined,
vigorous, hardy, irrepressible. A resilient person can bounce back
from disappointments and defeats; can turn losses into learning
experiences; and can cope with settings and life events that are
normally thought of as inducing hopelessness, or failure. The concept
of resilience has, in the last decade, begun to change the way that
we look at the lives of children. When policy discussions emphasize
"children at-risk," the task of removing all of the factors that
can create significant stresses for children seems overwhelming.
Rather than promoting action, it tends to promote labeling and inaction.
In contrast, research and interventions that focus on resilience
point to what should be added to children's lives to give them better
tools for coping with diverse, stressful settings. While not ignoring
the social circumstances that make modern life more difficult for
children, it emphasizes more careful efforts to improve the conditions
that most directly affect a child's ability to cope such as effective
parenting and early efforts to increase learning.
This is the first of two issues CAREI will devote to this topic.
This issue of Research/Practice addresses the benefits of thinking
about the resiliency of children, rather than their risk factors
and draws our attention to some of the levers that schools and social
agencies can affect. In addition, it reviews some proven strategies
that can work in schools and communities. Our hope, with this issue,
is to carry an important, positive message about our ability to
improve the cognitive and social development of children and youth.
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