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Resiliency in Gifted Students
Support, Load Balance, and Optimism
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Strategic Plan Goal
• 1) All teachers will engage every student in meaningful, authentic and rigorous work through the use of innovative instructional practices and supportive technologies that will motivate students to be self-directed and inquisitive learners.
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Strategic Plan Outcomes
• Our primary focus is on teaching and assessing those skills our students need to thrive as 21st century learners, workers and citizens. All VBCPS students will be: – Academically proficient; – Effective communicators and collaborators; – Globally aware, independent, responsible learners
and citizens; and – Critical and creative thinkers, innovators and
problem solvers. Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development
Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Theoretical Impetus of Resiliency Research
• Instead of studying students from high-risk communities who fail, discover what is distinctive about students from the same communities who succeed.
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Organizing Framework for Session
Two Main Constructs
• Supportive relationships provide sustenance to the development of resiliency
• Certain personal skills support resiliency and these skills can be taught
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Organizing Framework for Session
Organizing Question 1: How can you help your
school become more effective at promoting resiliency?
Organizing Question 2: How would you set-up and
run an internet focus group?
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Focus Points for Notes
• Focus one—When, where and how can adults support resiliency
• Focus two—When, where and how can we provide opportunities for students to support each other
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Home Lives
• Structured home• Firm consistent rules and discipline• Parental monitoring of homework and
behavior• Less crowded, cluttered, and cleaner homes
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Characteristics of Resilient Students
• Positive outlook• Good sense of humor• Commitment to conventional institutions• Have a sense of purpose• Internal locus of control
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Adult Relationships
• Attached to at least one significant adult• Has positive interactions and involvement
with committed, concerned educators and other adults
• Adult provides social support• Adult has confidence in their capabilities• There are role models worthy of respect and
admiration
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Social Characteristics
• Social support from peers• Peer acceptance• Positive personal relationships• Separate achievement from social status• Minorities see themselves as overcoming
stereotypes and stigmas• Actively engaged in community in meaningful
way
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Personal Competencies
• Optimism• Perseverance• Responsibility/Internal locus of control• Independence/Autonomy• Social competence• Self-efficacy• Problem-solving skills
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Self-Efficacy
• Students need to believe they have the skills to be successful
• Students believe they can accomplish the task if they put in the work and apply their skills
• Students are recognized for their skill development and effort—NOT for being “smart”
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Internal Locus of Control
• Students believe that they are in control of whether or not they are successful
• Do not blame others, chance, fate, tools, teachers, parents, or other exterior factors
• Assess what they can do differently to change future outcomes
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Personal Behaviors
• Spend less time watching TV, using prescription drugs, playing video games
• Talk to parents or siblings about what bothers them
• Go along with parent requests
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Lack of Resilience
• Sense of helplessness• Sense of being stuck• Fall prey to negative influences more easily• Behavior, academic, and emotional failure• Least engaged in humor, problem solving,
remaining optimistic, and making their own decisions.
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Student Skills
I. Managing StressII. Promoting OptimismIII. Managing Competitiveness
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
StressThe body’s general response to any
intense physical, emotional, or mental demand placed on it by oneself or others (Kaplan, 2005)
Eustress (Positive Stress)• Motivates and focuses energy • Helps achieve goals and reach potential
Distress (Negative Stress)• Feels unpleasant • Can lead to anxiety• Can decrease performance • Can lead to physical or emotional problems
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Stress in gifted children
• Busy schedules• Feeling “different”• High expectations (from self or others)• Perfectionism• Competitiveness• Underachievement• Lack of challenge• Other examples???
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Stress Them Just Enough
• Load Balance—The link between environmental demands and capabilities of student
• In order for students to grow intellectually, they should complete tasks within their “Zone of Proximal Development” (Vygotsky, 1978).– A point of required mastery where a child cannot
successfully function alone, but can succeed with scaffolding or support
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
What can teachers do?• Provide information on coping strategies• Model how to deal with stress• Encourage children to express her/his feelings appropriately• Listen• Validate/acknowledge child’s feelings• Be available for guidance• Model acceptance and encouragement• Help each child be a “whole person”• Be patient• Work with parents and student on load management
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Coping Strategies for Stress Management
• Regular exercise• Healthy nutrition• Adequate rest• Take time out for enjoyable activities• Learn skills that make tasks easier / more successful• Be a problem-solver• Shifting perspective• Be optimistic…
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Discontinuity of Resiliency
• Students level of resiliency can vary over time and across situations– Situational changes– Social changes– Developmental changes– Dabroski-Positive disintegration
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Positive Disintegration Process• The individual becomes active agent in own disintegration-
thus the person finds a 'cure' for himself, – not in the sense of a rehabilitation – in the sense of reaching a higher level than the one prior to
disintegration. • Occurs through a process of an education of oneself and of an
inner psychic transformation. • Main mechanisms of this process:
– A continual sense of looking into oneself as if from outside– Followed by a conscious affirmation or negation of
conditions and values in both the internal and external environments
• (Dabrowski, 1972, p. 4).
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Personality Reintegration
• Through the constant creation of himself • + the development of the inner psychic milieu • + development of discriminating power with
respect to both the inner and outer milieus• an individual goes through ever higher levels
of 'neuroses' and at the same time through ever higher levels of universal development of personality"
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Optimism: A tool to manage and prevent stress
• What is optimism?• Thoughts???
• The Optimistic Child: A Proven Program to Safeguard Children Against Depression and Build Lifelong Resilience – authored by Dr. Martin Seligman (1995)
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Optimism …• Optimism is NOT
• Just hoping that everything will be okay• Ignoring reality• Just telling yourself positive thoughts• Wishful thinking
• Optimism Involves
• Flexible and reality-based thought process• Optimistic explanatory style• Telling yourself something that is equally true, but nicer • Opposite of pessimism• Opposite of catastrophizing
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Teaching Optimism
1) Apply concepts to your own life2) Model and teach concepts to children
Skills to learn for optimism:• Catch automatic thoughts• Evaluate thoughts• Generate alternatives• De-catastrophize
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Explanatory StylePessimistic Explanatory Style
PermanentPervasivePersonal
“Things at school never go right for me.”
“No one is ever going to hire me.”“I must be an unlovable person.”
Optimistic Explanatory StyleTemporary
SpecificImpersonal
“Things at school are bad right now.”“This particular person didn’t hire me.”
“My friend is probably busy or forgot to call me back.”
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Practice1. Jamie got a C in the first nine weeks in math. You approach him and he
tells you the following: “I’ve really screwed up. My parents wanted me to be on the principal’s list all year. Now, I can’t do that. They’re going to be so disappointed. I wish I could quit school. I’ve already failed for the year. Why should I even try any more?”
How can you help Jamie de-catastrophize?
2. Let’s look at some examples from your experience or from your list of automatic thoughts.
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
What is competitiveness?
• Contest• Opposition• Process of trying to beat others • Rivalry
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Emerging Reaction Patterns to Competition
Negative Positive
• The honest competitor• The ambivalent competitor
• The personal best
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Benefits of Competition• Teaches students they may struggle or fail
at first but achieve their goal eventually• Helps students persevere when faced with
obstacles• Increases their resilience, or ability to recover from
setbacks• Helps students learn to win with grace and humility• Prepares students for future competition as they
enter their careers• Inspires students to strive for excellence
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Can competition be hurtful?
• Sometimes, if taken to extremes.
Things to take into consideration:Delay exposure of competition to
young children, especially if they are very sensitive
Address competition when it arises
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Strategies to help your child deal with competitiveness
• Talk to students about competition• Practice appropriate behaviors• Praise effort rather than performance• Read optimistic stories with resilient
characters• Brainstorm ways to help children cope
when they encounter upsetting situations
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Strategies to help your child deal with competitiveness (continued)
• Use competition as less of a motivator and more for a tool of personal improvement
• Help children to manage stressful situations• Help children to build supportive social
networks
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Thanks To
• Kristina Groce, M.A.; Amanda Slonaker, M.A.; Mary Skokut, M.Ed. for their presentation Promoting Resiliency by Managing Stress, Competitiveness, and Perfectionism, March 31, 2009
Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development Virginia Beach City Public Schools
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