Education Professor Jacqueline Stevenson Sheffield Institute of Education Sheffield Hallam University ProfJStevenson Overview of session Resilience literature Grit L ocation of the problem ID: 685565
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Reconceptualising Student Resilience in Higher Education
Professor Jacqueline StevensonSheffield Institute of EducationSheffield Hallam University
ProfJStevenson
Slide2
Overview of session
Resilience literatureGritLocation of 'the problem'My research
Problematising institutional approachesNew ways of thinkingSlide3
Definitions of resilience
A dynamic process encompassing positive adaptation within the context of significant adversity (
Luthar, Cicchetti, & Becker, 2000) The process of
coping with adversity, change, or opportunity in a manner that results in the identification, fortification, and enrichment of resilient qualities or protective
factors
(Richardson
, 2002, p. 308
)
T
he
potential to exhibit resourcefulness
by using
available
internal and
external resources
in response to different
contextual and
developmental
challenges
(Pooley
& Cohen
, 2010, p. 34).Slide4
Risk and protective factors
Risk factors/mechanismsEvents/conditions of adversityFactors that operate to reduce resistance to stressors/adversityVulnerability factors T
raits, predispositions, or 'deficits': heightened response, sensitivity, or reaction to stressors or risk factors.Protective factorsExternal resourcesInternal resources
Smith-Osborne, A. (2007), Life Span and Resiliency Theory: A Critical Review, Advances in Social
Work,
8 (1), pp. 152-168.Slide5
External protective factors
Good educational experiencesFamily support and cohesion/one (at least) supportive adultSocial/community networksSupport from environmental and/or community systems
Interests/social commitmentsSmith-Osbourne, 2007; Richardson, 2002Slide6
Internal resources
"Adult personal resilience is a multifaceted construct that includes a person’s determination and ability to endure, adapt, and recover from adversity” Four dimensions of adult personal resilience
DeterminationEnduranceAdaptabilityRecuperability
Taormina, R.J. (2015), Adult Personal Resilience: A New Theory, New Measure, and Practical Implications, Psychological Thought, 2015, Vol. 8(1), 35–46Slide7
APPG on Social Mobility Character and Resilience Manifesto
May 2012, report highlighting ‘seven key truths about social mobility’.'After reviewing evidence across all stages of the life cycle, the report concluded that “personal resilience and emotional wellbeing are the missing link in the chain
”'Calls on government toMake Character and Resilience a key focus of the National Careers ServiceActively encourage
staff to participate in CSR activities that develop Character and Resilience in young people; Implement internal training programmes that help develop the Character and Resilience capabilities of staff; AND Develop alternative routes into advanced professional positions that reflect the importance of Character and Resilience skills rather than raw academic achievements
http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/pdfs/2014-appg-social-mobility.pdf
Slide8
Grit
Focused on individual characteristics"Grit entails working strenuously toward challenges, maintaining effort and interest over years despite failure, adversity, and plateaus in progress. The gritty individual approaches achievement as a marathon; his or her advantage is stamina. Whereas disappointment or boredom signals to others that it is time to change trajectory and cut losses, the gritty individual stays the
course"Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews and Kelly (2007), Grit: Perseverance and Passion for Long-Term Goals
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92 (6)
1087–1101Slide9
The problem
Positions students who lack access to conventional social, economic and cultural capital on entering HE as lackingFocusses on developing those internal resources deemed to be lackingCan ignore/avoid developing external resources Avoids recognition of structural inequalitiesSlide10
Link into the student 'lifecycle'
Areas of riskTransitionRetentionAttainmentSuccess
Internal resourcesDeterminationEnduranceAdaptabilityRecuperability
Institutional
interventions
Activities
that focus on the individual building
grit e.g. out
door
residential/team
building
activities
Counselling services etc.Slide11
My work
Research with students who have displayed resilience in coming to/surviving HEAnalysis of
40+ biographical interviews (more to come)refugees (14)care leavers (9)
BME students from lower SES backgrounds (8)older learners with complex trajectories into HE (11)
RQ
: Why
do some resilient students drop
out
whereas others do not?Slide12
Transition point
Risk factors
Induction/first
few weeksUnderstanding academic mores;
making friends; navigation of behaviours/structures
Submission of first
assignment
Understanding language/decoding/
grading and outcomes; failure/fear of failure
Return after Christmas
R
e-leaving family and friends/coping with home sickness; submission of first key assignment
Retention into and post-placement
Not/gaining access
to placements; financial insecurity; workplace knowledge
Progression
Access to/able to draw on academic, familial and cultural
capital esp. networks; poverty/part time working
Transition and risksSlide13
Transition point
Internal resources
Induction/first
few weeks
Determination
Endurance
Adaptability
Recuperability
Submission of first
assignment
Return after Christmas
Retention into and
post-placement
Progression
Transition and resourcesSlide14
Six stories: resilience but withdrawal
Khadija: late 30s, forced migrant; interviewed at point of application to HE; withdrew after first few weeks
Mohammed: 18, former refugee; interviewed part way through 1st year; withdrew at end of first yearDominique: mid 30s
, refugee from Cameroon; interviewed in first few weeks on course; withdrew after first semesterMichael: late 40s, history of prison and drug abuse; interviewed on access course; didn't progress after access course
Denny: early
20s
; lows SES, single parent; 'outreach support'; interviewed first few weeks; didn't return after Christmas
Stuart: mid-
20s
; care leaver; interviewed part way through Masters; didn't complete
RESILIENT BUT NOT ACADEMICALLY BUOYANTSlide15
Risk factors
External resources
(maps on to
Smith-Osbourne, 2007; Richardson, 2002
)
Understanding academic mores;
making friends; navigation of behaviours/structures
Access to appropriate networks;
Supportive peer relations; meaningful interaction with staff; developing knowledge, confidence and identity as successful HE (Thomas,
2013)
Multiple and diverse forms of assessment and teaching (Aimhigher resilience project)
Time, tolerance and patience; long induction/temporality (Possible Selves)
Mentoring schemes/Study skills support (
ESF
projects)
Financial support (OFFA project)
Understanding language/decoding/
grading and outcomes; failure/fear of failure
R
e-leaving family and friends/coping with home sickness; submission of first key assignment
Not/gaining access
to placements; financial insecurity; workplace knowledge
Not/recognising importance/significance; access to/able to draw on academic
capital
Access to/able to draw on academic,
familal
and cultural
capital esp. networks; poverty/part time working
Transition, resilience and successSlide16
One success story.....Slide17
Summary
Many students have overcome significant barriers into HE but HE becomes a place of adversity for some Difference between lacking resilience and need for academic buoyancyInternal AND external factors are important; locating change only WITHIN students is unacceptable
Need to change HEI practices so they offer external protective factorsPractical interventions
Better understanding of temporalitiesPedagogic diversityMentoring schemes/Study skills support/academic decoding (
ESF
study skills project
); Financial
security and support (OFFA project)Slide18
Yosso's 2005 framework
AND students bring capital with them, they don't lack; need a better understandingYosso's 2005 frameworkstarts with what students bring to the classroom not what they don't; recognises resources; asks reflective questions of our practiceSlide19
Reflective questions 1
Aspirational capital What assumptions do we have about our students’ aspirations?How are we supporting the maintenance and growth of students’ aspirations? LinguisticHow are we supporting the language and communication strengths of our students?
To what degree do courses utilise inclusive pedagogical practices?Familial capitalHow do we recognise and help students draw on wisdom, values and stories from their home communities?
How do we create environments that invite families to participate?Slide20
Reflective questions 2
Social capitalHow do we engage with likely individuals and community-based organisations about admissions and selection processes and the types of supports successful students need?How do we help students stay connected to the communities and individuals instrumental in their previous educational success? Navigational capital
How do we help students navigate our institutions? Interactions with teachers? Interactions with student-support staff? Their peers? How willing are we to acknowledge that our institutions, both their structures and cultures, have a history of, and may still in many ways be unsupportive and/or hostile to our students and their communities?Slide21
Reflective questions 3
Resistance capital How do we recognise the ways in which our students have resisted barriers to accessing HE?How do we share stories of survival without contravening rights to privacy or overly eulogising students?
How can we help students to draw on their resistant capital to become more academically buoyant?Slide22
Questions?