Engaging the Disengaged: Practical Strategies from a

Positive Psychology Perspective

Marianne LoPresti, C. Psych. Assoc.Patricia Marra-Stapleton, C.Psych. Assoc.

April 28,2009

Definition

• Resiliency is the ability to spring back from and successfully adapt to adversity.

• One fifteen year old defined resiliency thus: “bouncing back from problems and stuff with more power and more smarts”resiliency for life.com

Resiliency

• Research indicates that most people can bounce back from crisis, stress and trauma and experience life successes. It appears that each person has an innate capacity for resiliency that operates best when they have resiliency building conditions in their lives.

Features of Optimistic versus Negative Thinkers

• Focus on solutions rather problems (when change is possible)

• Use acceptance and humour

• More accurate about how much control they have in situations (even 5% counts)

Features of Positive Thinkers Cont’d

• Have more and stronger social support• Have better immune functions• Take better care of themselves• Less likely to deny and avoid problems

Features of Optimistic Thinkers Cont’d

• Move out of their comfort zone• Learn from failure and find meaning in

setback.• More likely to try new strategies when the

ones they are using aren’t working (self-assessment and self-efficacy)

Rules Of Engagement • Student’s remain in

school when the environment is supportive, inclusive, and engaging. (B. Ferguson, 2005)

• Higher levels of school connectedness associated with Positive Classroom Management Climates (Journal of School Health, 2002)

Rules of Engagement

• The BEST predictors of successful change in students (Miller and Duncan 1997 analysis of research on resiliency and change) – 1) Engagement in a meaningful relationship – 2) Engagement in meaningful activities

83% on change involves these 2 elements

Virtues and Character Strengths

1. Wisdom and Knowledge• creativity• curiosity• open-mindedness• love of learning• perspective

Virtues and Character Strengths2. Courage• authenticity• bravery• persistence• zest3. Humanity• kindness• love• social intelligence

Virtues and Character Strengths

4. Justice• Fairness• Leadership• Team work

Virtues & Character Strengths5. Temperance• forgiveness• modesty• prudence• self-regulation6. Transcendence• appreciation of beauty and excellence• gratitude• hope• humour• Religiousness/spirituality

ABC MODELBeliefsAbout what caused it About the implications

ConsequencesEmotions and behaviourthat result from Beliefs and Adversity

AdversityAny problem situation (big or small)

Detecting IcebergsDetecting Icebergs

External Presentation ofan individual

How we Approach the World

Internal ProcessesThe Individual’s Experiences, Beliefs,Feelings, Thinking Traps, Life Philosophy, Values

““If we think we are fragile and broken, we If we think we are fragile and broken, we will live a fragile, broken life. If we will live a fragile, broken life. If we believe we are strong and wise, we will believe we are strong and wise, we will live with enthusiasm and courage. The live with enthusiasm and courage. The way we name ourselves colours the way way we name ourselves colours the way we live. Who we are is in our own eyes. we live. Who we are is in our own eyes. We must be careful how to name We must be careful how to name ourselves.ourselves.”” Wayne MullerWayne Muller

Fostering Resiliency in Schools

1.Provide a caring, supportive learning environment

• Feeling cared for and safe builds students’/staff’s resiliency

• Promoting positive social connections between staff members and students, students and their peers, and home and school, builds resiliency.

How to Reach the Disengaged

• Pay attention to and accentuate strengths.

• Use these strengths to connect to the curriculum

• Make your Belief your paradigm “ From wrong to strong” ( W. Hammond)

How to Reach the Disengaged

We can’t engage if we feel UNSAFE Safe Environments Incorporate• Trust • Belongingness • Fairness

Resiliency in Schools

2. Foster positive attitudes• Help students believe that they can

succeed if they try.• Provide situations in which students are

able to succeed• Frame failure as a learning opportunity• Teach them to re-evaluate and adjust

strategies that may not be working

Resiliency in Schools

3.Nurture positive emotions in students and staff members

• Demonstrate and give students the chance to practice positive emotions such as optimism, respect, forgiveness and empathy.

• Staff members reinforce emotional intelligence, praise students for successes, and avoid judgments or harsh criticism for failure.

Resiliency in Schools

4.Foster academic self-determination and feelings of competence

• Provide clear and consistent expectations• Help students develop a menu of

homework and study strategies

Resiliency in Schools4.Foster academic self-determination and feelings of

competence, cont’d

• Encourage students to regularly attend school and complete homework as well as develop talents in activities they enjoy.

• Teach students to set realistic goals and obtain necessary resources

• Assist student in future planning/long term goals setting

Resiliency in Schools

7. Healthy Habits• Facilitate stress

reduction by incorporating positive stress control strategies, such as meditation, controlled breathing, yoga, and exercise into the school curricula.

Fostering Resiliency/ Psychological Well-Being

Research has shown that resilience results from:

• Positive social relationships• Positive attitudes and emotions• The ability to control one’s own behaviour• Feelings of competence

Resiliency: Conclusions

• Resiliency is the ability to recover rapidly from illness, change or misfortune.

• Building resiliency is a way of dealing with stressful situations in a way that is also helps you take the next step in your won growth as a person

Resiliency: Conclusions

• Building your resiliency raises your tolerance so that as you grow, things that stressed you out in the past no longer have the same hold on you.

• Building resiliency involves self-soothing and self-confronting.

Quotes

“He who has a why to live for, can endure any how.”

Victor Frankl, Psychiatrist

“Life is not a matter of holding good cards , but of playing a poor hand well”

Robert Louis Stevenson

Quotes

“ Character cannot be developed in peace and quiet. Only through trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision be insured and success achieved.”

Hellen Keller

Resources www.raisingresilientkids.com/

www.askdrjami.org/pd/resiliency_high.pdf

www.oregon.edu/˜orp/publications.htm

www.fishfulthinking.com

www.resiliencyinitiatives.ca

www.resiliencyforlife.com

References

• United States Longitudinal Student of Adolescent Health (Journal of School Health, 2002)

• Reivich, Karen & Shatte, Andrew; The ResilenceFactor, Broadway books,Copyright 2002.

• Seligman, Martin E. P. & Steen, Tracy A.; Positive Psychology Program- empirical Validation of Interventions, American Psychologist, July-August 2005, American Psychological Association

References cont’d

• Community Health Systems Resource Group, Hospital For Sick Children. (2005) Early School Leavers: Understanding the Lived Reality of Student Disengagement From secondary School –Final Report for the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training, Special Education Branch

• Resiliency : Embracing a Strength Based Approach to evaluation, Service Provision and Professional Development , Dr. W. Hammond, Toronto, Ont., October 24, 2008