Emmy Werner studied resilience, at a time when resilience research was not widely recognized, as a resource for helping traumatized children outside of academic literature, until now. Werner’s work is based on a remarkable longitudinal study that followed hundreds of children (opens in a new tab) who were born on the Hawaiian island of Kauai in 1955, for four decades.
One in three of Kauai’s children identified as high risk became unexpectedly competent, confident, and caring adults. They did not develop behavioral or learning problems during childhood or adolescence. They were successful in school, managing home and social life well. These children grew into adults who were somehow able to overcome incredible obstacles, leading to successful and fulfilling lives.
This study challenged the persistent belief that at-risk children cannot succeed. How did they beat the odds?
A consistent pattern of protective factors was revealed in these resilient children:
- Protective factors within the individual: These included characteristics such as intelligence, a positive outlook, a sense of humor, and a talent or interest that provided a sense of purpose and identity.
- Protective factors in home life: These included having at least one opportunity for support and involvement in establishing a close bond with at least one competent and emotionally stable person who was sensitive to their needs, often substitute caregivers such as grandparents, older siblings, aunts or uncles.
- External factors: These included access to supportive social networks, such as teachers, mentors, and peers, and opportunities to participate in activities that fostered positive relationships and skill development.
The second and third factors are dispositions that schools and communities can encourage, but the first factor may seem dependent on the individual. However, internal resilience can be learned, resulting in these protective factors interacting in a synergy that compounds the long-term positive consequences. In fact, schools and communities can implement the lessons learned from Werner’s study. Further evidence in other studies provides validation for generalizing strategies to disadvantaged children in schools.
Resilience learning from historical patterns
A more recent tragedy, with parallels to post-Covid student trauma, took place for survivors of Hurricane Katrina. This disaster leveled much of the city of New Orleans in 2005. Researchers published their findings in “resilience outliers (opens in a new tab)a decade later, in Katrina’s children (opens in a new tab). These children were displaced from school and home for a year and had no digital access to connect to their educational or social lives.
Similar to the pandemic, 100,000 post-Katrina students were isolated, robbed of critical development and social learning opportunities. However, the researchers found individuals who had not only survived, but went on to lead successful and prosperous young adult lives. As with Werner’s findings, a strong sense of community helped Katrina’s children rebuild their lives. And just like Kids of Kauai, having a strong support network helped those traumatized children experience post-traumatic growth.
Patterns in the story reinforce solutions. Fast forward to 2014, Google researched who its most successful employees were. The assumption was that those who went to prestigious universities topped the list. Certainly, they were given the conditions to succeed, except that they were defeated by people who had suffered a trauma at some point in their lives and stood out (opens in a new tab) not despite, but perhaps because of, the lessons learned in self-improvement.
This study reinforced that all is not lost. In fact, resilience is sometimes best learned through real life challenges. Incorporating protective factors helps traumatized people draw strength, rather than weakness, from circumstances.
Expectations and Results
the pygmalion effect (opens in a new tab), another study of school community support dating back half a century, showed how teachers who were told certain students were gifted expected them to excel academically. Another group of students, they were told, were average. In reality, there was no difference between these groups. However, teachers treated the perceived gifted as more intelligent, providing them with more attention, encouragement, and opportunities.
As a result, students perceived as gifted demonstrated gifted levels of performance while their peers performed as expected, with average performance. The Pygmalion effect revealed higher expectations leading to better performance.
Teachers’ perceptions and attitudes toward students often include unwanted biases. Being aware of this can help all children, by overcoming our biases to create supportive learning communities, so that all children have opportunities to excel.
Consider a template to guide educators:
- Teaching children resilience so they learn to persevere. Building resilience can often be achieved through inspiring stories (opens in a new tab) of overcoming trauma.
- Provide strong affiliations to mentors, coaches, and teachers to foster a sense of connection to the adults in the lives of children in need.
- Provide outlets for supportive social networks such as teams, clubs, religious affiliations, and other organizations to connect students with these children.
While not a fail-safe, these actions do, as evidenced, certainly increase the odds of success for those who have had to overcome barriers early in life. Stacking these strategies together further increases the likelihood of success for many students, certainly more than without them.
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