Monthly Archives: May 2016

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to present at the Investigating Our Practices (IOP) conference at the University of British Columbia. The IOP conference is a space for a variety of innovators, learners and educators to share their work and facilitate dialogue about the future of our students and schools. I shared my inquiry through discussing a few scenarios that can arise with students in the classroom.

I facilitated a roundtable discussion with educational psychologists, administrators, teachers, masters and PHD students. I was fortunate to have a diverse group of people to share with, as each of them have different focuses in our education system. Thus, as I presented each scenario many different points arose. One person shared their experience with student resilience working in a school in Kenya. They explained that the culture in Kenya is not to share personal family information with teachers. Thus, supporting student resilience in the classroom becomes very important. I explained that while we cannot always know what is happening in our student’s lives, we can create the safe classroom space to support their resilience. A masters student who is working on cultivating a positive body space discussed some strategies of how to increase self-confidence in students. This ties closely to my inquiry through facilitating a space that promotes discussion of both failure and success. As teachers, this can be done through modelling and cultivating a safe space to have dialogue.

Overall, this opportunity allowed me to see how student’s ability to be resilient intersects with several aspects of their lives both within and out of school. The discussion we had allowed me to consider different perspectives when addressing and investigating student resilience.

I am now well underway in my extended practicum. Thus far, it has been an eye opening experience in terms of facilitating and understanding student resilience. Going into my extended practicum, I had strategies in mind for specific students to support their resilience and combat learned helplessness. For example, I intended to help students with goal setting and be selective when I answer questions for students. I planned to use these strategies for students do not think for themselves and ask questions without trying first. Throughout my first two weeks of practicum, I began to implement these strategies with a few students.

I did not expect to have as much resistance as I did when implementing these strategies. A few of my students would get frustrated when I would not solve the problems for/with them. When students raise their hand, they expect me to answer all their questions. While I want to support all my students, I am also striving to facilitate a space where they engage with critical thinking and problem solving. As I reflect, I realize I made a few assumptions that my students had already developed critical thinking strategies and knew what to do when they had questions. I have now realized that I need to break down my objectives for students even further. To facilitate a space for students to be resilient, teachers must first understand where students are at right now. Thus, I have modified my strategies and expectations to support where my students are right now. I hope in the future to develop critical thinking skills with students to support their independence and resilience. My practicum experience has shown me that resilience is not built in a day, and both teachers and students alike must take it one step at a time.