Building resilience in Looked After young people: a moral values approach

Abstract

ABSTRACT Building resilience in children who are Looked After can be especially challenging. This article focuses on the practice of a teacher working with children who were struggling to be included in mainstream schools. The first study shows how a young person was helped to self-reflect, including identifying positive values as strengths in his life. The other study shows how a young person's moral identity was nurtured by volunteering in his community and the impact of this on his resilience. The importance of self-awareness, self-efficacy and self-esteem is discussed with reference to both moral identity and resilience. Examples are given of how resiliency emerges with well-attuned support. Keywords: resilienceLooked After childrenmoral valuesmoral identity Notes 1. Looked After children in Scotland are those children in care of their local authority usually under a supervision requirement (Learning Teaching Scotland website: http://www.ltsscotland.org.uk/lookedafterchildren/about/what/legal.asp) 2. Names of pupils have been changed in order to protect their identities. 3. Framework RE 3 Teacher's Resource by Joy White, 2006. Published by Hodder and Stoughton Limited/Edward Arnold (Publishers) Limited/Hodder Education.