Promoting Student Resilience in School Contexts

Abstract

This article outlines specific actions that school personnel can take to promote the healthy social and emotional development of students at their schools. These recommendations are conceptually grounded in risk and resiliency theory and in the recognition that environments as well as individuals hold risk and protective possibilities. Focus is placed on protective possibilities that address the individual risk and resilience domains of autonomy, sense of purpose, social competence, problem-solving, and achievement motivation in classroom, peer, schoolwide, and family-school contexts.