Undergraduate Academic Advising Collaborative November 17 2017 FOSTERING

Undergraduate Academic Advising Collaborative November 17, 2017 FOSTERING RESILIENCE: How Academic Struggles Can Lead to Academic Success Carolyn B. Thurston, M. A. , Director- Academic Success Initiatives Office of the Dean of Student

INTRODUCTORY EXERCISE PAIR & SHARE

Think about a person you’ve known who you would consider to be a prime example of resilience. Take a minute to describe that person. What made that person “resilient” to you? Which traits, qualities, or characteristics define their resilience for you? Make a list of those qualities, traits, and/or characteristics.

Share with the whole group how you and your partner define ‘resilience’

How do we become resilient?

Conceptual contexts of resilience research include: § § § Physics Business organizations Education Military Sport performance Communities

For our purposes, we will focus on “Psychological Resilience” as it is manifested in educational settings.

The Problem of Definition Here are just a few: § A dynamic process encompassing positive adaptation within the context of significant adversity (Becker, Cicchetti, and Luthar, 2000) § From the Latin verb resilire, “to leap back, ” defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as being “able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions” (Soanes & Stevenson, 2006) § The process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress (American Psychological Association, 2016)

The Problem of Measurement What and how to measure - key factors that must be considered are, to a great extent, subjective and necessitate diverse empirical methods: § Adversity and conditions of risk (risk factors) § Strengths markers or traits (protective factors) § Competence and reboundability (positive adaptability)

There is some consensus: Resilience is the capacity to rebuild and grow from adversity, and it can be learned!

What Contributes to Resilience: A combination of factors contributes to resilience. Many studies show that the primary factor in resilience is having caring and supportive relationships within and outside the family. Relationships that create love and trust, provide role models, and offer encouragement and reassurance help bolster a person's resilience. (American Psychological Association, http: //www. apa. org/helpcenter/roadresilience. aspx )

Several additional factors are associated with resilience, including: Ø The capacity to make realistic plans and take steps to carry them out Ø A positive view of yourself and confidence in your strengths and abilities Ø Skills in communication and problem solving Ø The capacity to manage strong feelings and impulses Ø A “Growth” rather than a “Fixed” mindset

Strategies For Building Resilience Developing resilience is a personal journey. People do not all react the same ways to traumatic and stressful life events. An approach to building resilience that works for one person might not work for another. People use varying strategies. Thus, multiple and varied types of programs, initiatives, and opportunities are highly recommended.

Learning from Your Past Focusing on past experiences and sources of personal strength can help you learn about what strategies for building resilience might work for you.

PAIR & SHARE Share your answers to the following questions about yourself and your reactions to challenging life events.

Ø What kinds of events have been most stressful for me? Ø How have those events typically affected me? Ø To whom have I reached out for support in working through a traumatic or stressful experience? Ø What have I learned about myself and my interactions with others during difficult times? Ø Has it been helpful for me to assist someone else going through a similar experience? Ø What has helped make me feel more hopeful about the future?

Share Your Resilience Stories

Key Recommendations for Building Resilience: Ø Make connections. Good relationships with close family members, friends, or others are important. Ø Avoid seeing crises as insurmountable problems. You can't change the fact that highly stressful events happen, but you can change how you interpret and respond to these events. Ø Accept that change is a part of living. Certain goals may no longer be attainable as a result of adverse situations. Accepting circumstances that cannot be changed can help you focus on circumstances that you can alter.

Ø Keep things in perspective. Even when facing very painful events, try to consider the stressful situation in a broader context and keep a long-term perspective. Ø Maintain a hopeful outlook. An optimistic outlook enables you to expect that good things will happen in your life. Try visualizing what you want, rather than worrying about what you fear. Ø Take care of yourself. Pay attention to your own needs and feelings. Engage in activities that you enjoy and find relaxing. Exercise regularly! Taking care of yourself helps to keep your mind and body primed to deal with situations that require resilience.

Ø Move toward your goals. Develop some S. M. A. R. T. goals. Ø Take decisive actions. Act on adverse situations as much as you can. Let go of what you cannot control. Ø Look for opportunities for self-discovery. Many people who have experienced tragedies and hardship have reported better relationships, a greater sense of strength even while feeling vulnerable, an increased sense of self-worth, a more developed spirituality, and a heightened appreciation for life. Ø Nurture a positive view of yourself. Use mindfulness and CBT to develop confidence in your ability to solve problems and to trust your inner wisdom and instincts.

Additional Ways of Strengthening Resilience: Ø Practice Gratitude. Keep a daily gratitude journal, send thank you notes, thank yourself when you practice self-care. Ø Daily Journaling. Some people write about their thoughts and feelings related to trauma or other stressful events in their life. Ø Get out in nature. Time spent outdoors in natural surroundings rewires your brain and reduces stress. Ø Meditation and spiritual practices. Daily spiritual practices help some people build connections and restore hope. The key is to identify ways that are likely to work well for you as part of your own personal strategy for fostering resilience.

So what are the implications of this for our students?

Sometimes what we call FAILURE is just that necessary struggle we call LEARNING.

Smith College - Failing Well: Campus Series Helps Students Rethink Setbacks. February 2017

And so can our students!

Best Practices for Building Academic Resilience: ü ü ü ü ü Encourage self-reflection and “reality checks” Normalize “failure” and encourage rebound Provide Attributional Retraining (AR) Identify unrealistic grade and career expectations Encourage & teach “active” learning Provide cultural capital for those who need it Promote intrinsic motivation & internal locus of control Encourage and require decision-making Promote self-advocacy and efficacy Provide appreciative & curriculum-intensive advising Jones and Becker (2002), Nutt (2003), National College Transition Network – Promising Practices (2017)

Programs We Know Help Students Rebound: ü ü ü ü Academic Coaching (peer, faculty, and advisor) Tutoring / Supplemental Instruction Transfer student support services Academic recovery programs Peer-to-peer coaching, mentoring, advising Cross-college advising and early referrals Financial literacy programs Early intervention initiatives University of South Carolina – Student Success Center, Academic Coaching & Engagement, Student Connect Initiative (2013).

THE RESILIENCE PROJECT Stanford, I Screwed Up: A Celebration of Failure and Resilience THE RESILIENCE PROJECT combines personal storytelling, events, programs, and academic skills coaching to motivate and support students as they experience the setbacks that are a normal part of a rigorous education. We help students learn from failure and hope to instill a sense of belonging and bravery. Our goal is to help change the perception of failure from something to be avoided at all costs, to something that has meaning, purpose, and value. https: //vptl. stanford. edu/resilience-project

The Resilience Consortium was founded in 2014 by ten Ivy+ universities to spark conversations, collaborations, and new ideas for promoting resilience on college campuses.

WHAT WILL WE DO AT CWU?

Viktor Frankl, who lost his pregnant wife, parents and brother in the Holocaust and spent 3 years in concentration camps, wrote in Man’s Search for Meaning (1946): “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way…every day, every hour…”

QUESTIONS?

Recommended Reading on Resilience: Building Educational Resilience and Social Support: The Effects of the Educational Opportunity Fund Program Among First- and Second-Generation College Students. Journal of College Student Development. Volume 48, Number 5, September/October 2007 http: //webster. uaa. washington. edu/resilience/ https: //vptl. stanford. edu/resilience-project/resilience-news-research http: //resilienceconsortium. bsc. harvard. edu/stanford-university http: //www. newyorker. com/science/maria-konnikova/the-secret-formula-for-resilience http: //www. apa. org/helpcenter/road-resilience. aspx https: //deepblue. lib. umich. edu/bitstream/handle/2027. 42/40282/Bonanno_Psychological %20 Resilience%20 After%20 Disaster_2006. pdf? sequence=2&is. Allowed=y http: //resilienceresearch. org/about-the-rrc/resilience/14 -what-is-resilience https: //go. sdsu. edu/education/doc/files/01370 -Resiliency. Literature. Review(SDSU). pdf