Post written by Cheryl J. Wright
To give all students the opportunity to achieve excellence in their education, educators know that students, especially at-risk learners, need to develop resilience in their pursuit of learning. Yet teachers often wonder, What specifically enables some students to persevere, while others appear to easily give up?
Although research indicates that resilient students most likely have personal characteristics like social competence and a sense of purpose, it is helpful to consider additional aspects that contribute to resilient students' achievement: the learning environment, instructional pedagogy, and teacher dispositions (Benard, 1997; Bruce, 1995; Wright, 2011).
The Learning Environment
Learning environments that foster resilience are academic, supportive, and promote opportunities for success (Schussler & Collins, 2006). Students not only perceive that they are welcome in class but also feel comfortable asking questions. Classrooms are safe and orderly; well-defined and appropriate routines and procedures are the norm and are applied with equity, purpose, and consistency. Teachers effectively address misbehavior, and students feel an overall connection among themselves, the teacher, and classmates.
For at-risk learners, especially, research suggests that students have a strong need to perceive that an environment is caring, respectful, and supportive. A nurturing classroom embodies affective characteristics that promote learning and trust (Poplin & Weeres, 1992). Students are more likely to do well when the
9-25-13 The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education
The Whole Child Blog — Whole Child Education: A Resilient Learning Ecosystem or Fractured Learning Landscape?At ASCD's Leader to Leader conference in July, I had the pleasure of sharing KnowledgeWorks' latest ten-year forecast on the future of learning, Recombinant Education: Regenerating the Learning Ecosystem (PDF), as a prelude to participants' exploring how they might improve the ways in which