A scoping review of programs targeting middle school students suggests that resilience is seldom the result of interventions within schools alone, or any other single system that provides services to students. Instead, resilience is shown to be a multidimensional construct, involving both exposure to risk and access to multiple internal and external resources. Based on a scoping review of outcomes from 36 interventions, we highlight the elements of successful programs with vulnerable students and reasons for why some programs appear to be less effective or have a negative impact. Less successful programs tended to be those that did not include a cultural component or show sensitivity to contextual variations among students like the size of their community, access to other services and supports, or the economic status of the child's family. The biases of funders, researchers and educators also influence the choice of resilience-promoting intervention made available in a school rather than the specific needs of the targeted student population. We conclude with several recommendations for more effective interventions with students and the implications of our findings to the evaluation of program outcomes.
Using a social ecological understanding of resilience, this position paper explores how schools in different contexts and across cultures influence student resilience by providing them with seven resources that are associated with better developmental outcomes for children: (1) access to material resources; (2) access to supportive relationships; (3) development of a desirable personal identity; (4) experiences of power and control; (5) adherence to cultural traditions; (6) experiences of social justice; and (7) experiences of social cohesion with others. Drawing on results from studies around the world that have assessed these seven factors, this paper makes the case that educational institutions, in collaboration with families and communities, are a form of psychosocial intervention that can improve children's resilience. Positive outcomes are most likely when there are opportunities for children to experience support for multiple coping strategies that respond to the challenges they find in different environments at school and in their communities. Our review of the research suggests that schools may have the greatest impact on resilience among children who are the most disadvantaged.
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