Fostering Resilience

Introduce the concept of resilience and explain its importance. Encourage students to think of a recent setback they overcame, such as an injury, negative feedback or an argument with a friend. Then, invite students to provide a brief description of this difficulty on Worksheet 1.

Guide students through the 4S matrix on Worksheet 1 and encourage them to articulate their past resilience strategies based on the difficult situation described in Step 1.

Encourage students to be specific and detailed, providing clear actions or steps they undertook.

Instruct students to pair up and discuss their individual 4S matrices, focusing on their past resilience experiences. Encourage exploration of each cell of their 4S matrix together. During the discussion, prompt pairs to choose two answers from each cell to share with the entire class.  

Lead a plenary discussion where selected answers from each pair are collected, creating a joint 4S matrix for the class. Facilitate discussion by summarising common themes, patterns or insights that arise from the shared answers.  

Encourage students to make connections between their own experiences and those shared by their peers. Use a whiteboard for visual representation and sharing with the whole class. 

Invite students to describe a current difficulty or challenge that they are facing on Worksheet 2. Instruct students to fill in the 4S matrix. Prompt students to explore which of the previously identified resources can be used to bounce back from their current difficulty. Ask them to consider how these resources can be adapted or modified based on their reflections from Step 3.  

Remind students to consider the relevance and effectiveness of each resource in the context of their current situation. They should tailor their responses to ensure that the plan is directly applicable to their specific difficulty or challenge. 

Homework Assignment: ask students to practice their resilience plan in their daily lives and to answer the individual reflective questions. Encourage them to implement the identified resources and strategies from their resilience plan actively to navigate their current difficulty.

Instruct students to pair up and share their experiences and their insights from the peer- and self-reflection. They can collaborate by thinking about whether they still lack aspects of their strategy to help with future challenges, or how it might need to be refined in response to their reflection.

Next, facilitate a plenary discussion where students can collectively identify best practices for fostering resilience. Guide the discussion by revisiting their tips and strategies from their joint 4S matrix from Step 3. Highlight what has worked well for different individuals and exploring potential areas for improvement.

Assessment as learning aims to strengthen the learning process and the development of metacognitive skills. It empowers students to direct their own learning and to become independent, critical self-assessors.

Peer-reflection and self-reflection

Self-regulated learning

Reflective questions