Dont give up! But if you do… know why: Resilience

Ive been teaching in  Grade 3 a lot this quarter. Learning a lot being back in the classroom. Great kids. Great school. Great learning values and dispositions. Resilience is something we strive for with our kids. Adults too. As a community resilience is a pretty important disposition to develop. How much is the key. See point 1.

So, at what point to we simply give up? Throw our arms in the air? Or leave until later. Or seek experts or give thinking time to something that is challenging? Surely this is not new, but I’ve found over the years that resilience is one of the most challenging things to grasp. To recognise. We naturally look for the path of least resistance, water does so why dont we right? No one likes to struggle, but I’ve found that  struggle is exactly what we need to learn.

Learners need to be:

• comfortably frustrated
• guided not spoon-fed
• invested in the struggle
• allowed to fail (relax you can always go back to it)

As a teacher, it’s easier to give answers. It’s harder to give time to think, struggle and learn.

Thats where the learning  happens.