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| Developing resilience in early years | |||||
| by Debbie Miller - Education Manager The Pathways to Resilience Trust |
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 In society today there are many challenges facing children, families and communities. As early childhood educators we can play a vital role in nurturing and supporting relationships in our capacity as carers. What are the key elements that build resilience, and how do we teach these skills from an early age? Edith Grotberg, from the International Resilience Project¹, says that resilience is important because it is the human capacity to face, overcome and be strengthened by or even transformed by the adversities of life (Grotberg, 1995, p. 6). The overload of information and suggestions to foster self esteem over the years have unfortunately led to a misguided belief that if we can protect children from unhappy or challenging situations, and ensure they feel happy most of the time, they will in fact be happy and resilient as they have not had to endure any unpleasant emotions. Despite good intentions of protecting children this has led to children, who when faced with any adversity or challenge, have few skills to manage the situation. It is only when we have negotiated these situations and been able to bounce back and have good outcomes in terms of "I'm still OK" that we are able to develop resilience. It therefore is extremely important that we intentionally teach and foster social and emotional skills to give children a toolkit to draw upon in developing resilience. The National Early Years Learning Framework [EYLF] from the Australian Government Department for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations [DEEWR] (2009) consists of three core elements:
Resilience develops on a continuum and is not innate. We therefore must take time to plan and intentionally teach skills to foster resilience, and most importantly to be mindful of our interactions. We should not underestimate the powerful impact an early years educator can have upon a child's skills in resilience. So what are the concepts in an early years context that educators can engender? Attachment All of our interactions with children provide opportunity to support and if necessary help to repair attachment. The serve and return nature of communicating with all children from infants to school age need to be responsive and engender a sense of safety and security for the child. This is the security to explore their environment, with the knowledge that we will be there as they have the need to return to us for reassurance should the need arise. Healthy attachment relationships with carers help children manage and cope with stress, develop social and emotional skills, learn to self regulate and develop an increasing self awareness. As educators we need to ensure we are available and use opportunities to talk about a child's experience e.g. "I know you want a turn", "it's hard to wait isn't it?", "I will wait with you" and "You waited and now it's your turn." It is important for the child to hear this language, rather than simply you have to wait your turn. The message we want to convey is an understanding of the emotion – the frustration – that we are there to be with them through the experience and that they can feel frustration and have a good outcome at the end. After a very young child is supported in this way they will begin to develop the ability to regulate their emotional responses themselves and understand that the feeling of frustration will not last and things can go well again. This healthy reciprocal interaction to foster secure attachment where children experience unconditional positive regard and a platform of security to explore is vitally important in the first years of life when the brain is growing so rapidly. Social interaction needs to be characterised by fun and playfulness and the child's need for comfort when anxious or distressed should be met quickly and effectively. A child's experience will become "I can feel upset, I am not alone, someone is here for me, I am worthwhile." These experiences will impact upon relationships throughout their life. Importance of Play Ensuring children in early years centres have opportunity for open exploratory play in a meaningful context, relevant to their lives is a perfect avenue to explore resilience. Things don't always go to plan but the blocks can be knocked down, I can feel sad, or angry, I can calm down and understand it can be built again. Play that is developmentally appropriate, allows children time to explore, problem solve and develop a sense of their own efficacy cannot be underestimated in the development of resilience. As a child makes decisions and is engaged in meaningful play they are making sense of their world and developing confidence. An ability to negotiate in social situations and develop problem solving abilities helps children understand they have skills when things don't' go well to come up with solutions. If we only provide directed activities, where children are not empowered to direct their own play, these children are denied the opportunity to develop these imperative problem-solving skills. It is valuable to talk about "what is the problem here, what are your ideas and lets make a plan, once they decide together on the best way to handle the situation. " Recognising Emotions in Self and Others Using stories, role-play and play to open conversations about how they are feeling and building a language of words to describe these feelings will support children's development of self-regulation. If we are able to support children to recognise their emotions e.g. feeling worried or angry, to tell us how they are feeling and we can teach them how to breathe to calm down, this is a valuable part of developing resilience. To react to angry feelings without acknowledging the feeling or punishing the feeling will not help children learn to self regulate. We want children to understand all feelings are ok and they can talk to us about how they are feeling. We will accept the feeling, even if not necessarily the behaviour. We therefore need to also provide space for children to have quiet, alone time. A space to get in touch with sensory experiences and moments of solitude. Children's ability to recogise the feelings of others and develop empathy is an important skill to foster in our interactions. We are able to model empathy by drawing children's attention to another child's non verbal communication so they can learn to read body language and facial cues. Being able to help another child and show care toward them develops a positive environment where children learn that caring for another person also helps them to feel happy. Developing a Sense of Identity A strong sense of identity and similarities and differences helps in building children's self awareness. In our interactions we can involve a a child's family in our centres, acknowledging cultural heritage and showing how we value their place in our centre by having pictures and drawings about each child's family for everyone to see. Positive support from families and community gives children a sense that they are not alone and have strong connections to draw upon especially when needed. Helping children to identify their strengths is important for children to ensure they have a sense of being capable and able to deal with situations and have purpose. We can value children's ideas and creativity to support their growing understanding of their strengths, and help them feel a sense of pride in their efforts rather than only a result. Educator Wellbeing We can only help a child flourish if we are taking time for ourselves to flourish. How we deal with difficult situations ourselves and the behaviours and helpful thinking that we model for children is very powerful in influencing how children will respond themselves. It therefore is important for all educators to take the time to check in with their own wellbeing and make a plan to reflect on how they can feel a sense of wellness, resilience and support themselves. Promoting social and emotional wellbeing and resilience cannot be taken for granted. As early years educators we can play a vital role in providing children with a toolkit of skills and the opportunity to practice them in our programs. It cannot be left to chance as the challenges many children face from the first transition to formal schooling can strain a families ability to cope significantly. The underpinning key in early years is the relationship we develop with those in our care and the resulting sense of belonging and connectedness that is affords them. They will carry this with them as they continue on their educational journey and through life. References Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (2009), Belonging, being and becoming: The early years learning framework for Australia. 1. Grotberg. E. H. (1995), A Guide to promoting resilience in children: Strengthening the human spirit in the early childhood development: Practice and reflections series. Netherlands: Bernard van Leer Foundation. MacNaughton, G., & Williams, G. (2008), Techniques for teaching young children: Choices in theory and practice. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education Australia |
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