Promoting Resilience in the Classroom: A Guide to Developing Pupils' Emotional and Cognitive Skills(Innovative Learning for All)

Resilience is a set of qualities that enable children to adapt and transform, to overcome risk and adversity, and to develop social competence, problem-solving skills, autonomy and a sense of purpose. For children and young people it is as vital to possess these qualities in school environments as in the family and the community at large. This handbook for teachers and educators explores ways of nurturing resilience in vulnerable students. It proposes a new, positive way of thinking about schools as institutions that can foster cognitive and socio-emotional competence in all students. Individual chapters examine effective practices in schools and classrooms, and assess a range of classroom processes, such as engagement, inclusion, collaboration and prosocial behaviour. The author makes use of case studies throughout to bring to life classroom activities and concrete strategies that will promote best practice for enhancing student resilience, and offers a framework that can be adapted to the existing nature, culture and needs of each individual school community and its members. Promoting Resilience in the Classroom is a valuable resource for educational practitioners as well as educational officers and policy makers engaged in school development and educational improvement.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements. Foreword by Paul Cooper, Series Editor. Chapter 1. Educational Resilience for All. Part 1: A Model for Classroom Practitioners. Chapter 2. Introducing Risk and Resilience in Education. Chapter 3. A model of Resilience-enhancing Classrooms. Part 2: Classroom Practices. Chapter 4. Caring Classrooms: Building Connections with Pupils. Chapter 5. Prosocial Classrooms: Caring and Supportive Peer Relationships. Chapter 6. Engaging Classrooms: Authentic, Inclusive Engagement. Chapter 7. Collaborative Classrooms: Learning and Working Together. Chapter 8. Empowering Classrooms: Choice, Voice and Belief. Part 3: A Plan of Action for the Classroom Practitioner. Chapter 9. A Plan of Action for Educational Resilience in the Classroom. Appendix: A Naturalistic Study of Classrooms. References. Subject Index. Author Index.

About the Author :
Carmel Cefai, PhD, chartered educational psychologist, is a lecturer in educational and health psychology in the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Malta. He is course director of the M.Ed. in Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties at the University of Malta, and is co-director of a national research project on social, emotional and behavioural difficulties in school. Professor Paul Cooper is a chartered psychologist and professor of education and is Director if the School of Education and the Centre for Innovation in Raising Educational Achievement at the University of Leicester. UK. He is series editor of the `Innovative Learning for All' series and co-author with Yonca Tiknaz of Nurture Groups in School and At Home: Connecting with Children with Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, which is also in the series.

Review :
It is appropriate that such an important, well-referenced and practical book on promoting inclusive practice is itself written in such a positive and inclusive way. I think it practices what it preaches... This recent publication should find its way onto the shelf of all Educational Psychology Service libraries, and is recommended to all schools. Drawing from the research undertaken in a variery of contexts, including brief summaries of key papers, the author highlights three key elements in fostering resilience in children during their early years of schooling... This book offers numerous practical examples whereby teachers can begin to explore their relationships with their pupils and encourage them to become enthusiastic learners who enjoy study for its own sake rather then because "we need a good grade to get a good job and earn money". ...This is a concise, easy-to-read and clearly presented book. Dr Cefai addresses some of the 'eternal verities' of inclusive practice in primary schools, and the book is of great relevance to all teachers. In tackling the development of social, emotional and cognitive competence, Dr Cefai provides the relevant theory and practical guidance on how to apply the ideas in classroom practice... This book will be invaluable to classroom teachers, to staff working in support services and to those involved in teacher training. This is a very important book, and in many ways a very unusual book. It addresses dimensions of the classroom which many others leave untouched. The social and relational aspects which are addressed here are crucial, not only for the healthy development of every individual, but also for the climate which will affect their school achievements. This book combines a serious and well-researched model with many creative and practical possibilities for the everyday classroom. Fortunately, the great majority of teachers seek to operate their classrooms in ways which build a positive climate: they will welcome this book. I certainly do. This handbook for teachers and educators explores ways of nurturing resilience in vulnerable students. It proposes a new, positive way of thinking about schools as institutions that can foster cognitive and socio-emotional competence in all students...Promoting Resilience in the Classroom is a valuable resource for educational practitioners as well as educational officers and policy makers engaged in school development and educational improvement. This book has proposed an innovative positive perspective for teachers that embraces a wide holistic perspective on children's experience in the classroom, emphasising support for the development of social and emotional competence as important dimensions to bolster children's resilience and learning. It is a practical answer to the concerns about issues of children's disaffection with schooling and the development of children's emotional literacy. It is also a good example of the blending of theory and practice. While being firmly based on current thinking and research around human resilience, it is very close to classroom realities. This book should be a valuable resource to schools in their efforts to enhance the healthy development and resilience of their pupils, particulary the more vulnerable ones, and to promote more positive behaviour and active engangement in the classroom. Thus is an in-depth introduction to emotional skills, which links them to developing emotional resilllience. Instructive, well-evidenced, readable, and recommended.