Resilience and embracing the inevitability of failure

Peter Robson Director of Positive Education and Wellbeing

In Paris in 1910, the then President of the United States of America, Theodore Roosevelt, spoke at a gathering of over 2000 people. He attempted to rally a group of government ministers, members of the armed forces and students to be outraged, with the purpose of attacking the vocal majority he believed had been publicly critical of the minority who were trying to make the world a better place. It was the prologue to his now famous speech as he went on to applaud those who were metaphorically ‘in the arena’, willing to confront the possibility of failure. He explained that ‘there is no effort without error and shortcomings’, encouraging his audience to attempt great things with the knowledge that failure is inevitable at some point. Roosevelt saved all of his criticism for those he described as ‘cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat’. In the Australian vernacular, we would say he was full of praise for the individual who ‘gives it a go’. It is a principle that has stood the test of time. Over 100 years later, this concept remains a prominent aspect of what we at Carey believe is vital in a progressive education where the intention is to enable students to become wise, independent and motivated as learners. We have used the word ‘resilience’ to capture this particular focus, where the

16 | Torch individual must change what they are doing in order to manage a setback. Resilience is a vital quality; it is one of our nine Carey Positive Learner Attributes and is our whole-school focus in 2019. Developing resilience is an ingredient necessary in the healthy learner, regardless of whether the learner is a

child in our Early Learning Centre or an adult member of the Carey community. Confrontation with failure is not something that is readily sought, but the building of resilience only happens when a setback is acknowledged and managed. A question that can be asked, and one we encourage staff to ask of

‘Confrontation with failure is not something that is readily sought, but the building of resilience only happens when a setback is acknowledged and managed.’

themselves in regard to the work they present to students is: ‘Did I place the student in a position where they had to confront failure?’ It is only then that the student must pause to evaluate, to rethink their position, to adapt to changed circumstances and seek out strategies to create a new pathway, and to persist in the face of the setback. Carey staff have developed a scope and sequence of what behaviours characterise resilience as the child moves through to adulthood. For example, in the three-year-old it is evidenced when the child can say, ‘I ask for help when needed’; at age 10, the student can say, ‘I persist with longer tasks when faced with a challenge’; and by the age of 17 they can state with confidence, ‘I design approaches to tasks that consider unexpected or difficult situations’. A convenient acronym to capture the essence of resilience is found in the phrase, ‘resilience requires FOCUS’: it requires a Flexibility to change thinking when those inevitable setbacks arrive, an Optimistic mindset to help find new and appropriate pathways, a recognition of the need to stay Connected to others

for support, a daring desire to actively seek out Uncertainty, and an awareness of the progress made when personal character Strengths are drawn upon to manage the new direction. Professor Bill Lucas, based at Winchester University in the UK and respected advisor in shaping the work Carey is doing around the Positive Learner Attributes, believes that, ‘Resilience is the anticipation of difficulties and mistakes, all the kinds of things that learning and life throw at us.’ The final book in the New Testament, the Book of Revelation, commences with the detail of seven separate letters sent to seven separate churches. All churches gain some affirmation, except one, the church of Laodicea. It is criticised as being ‘neither hot nor cold’ in the face of social issues, and is therefore rejected for their lack of engagement. It is a principle Theodore Roosevelt addressed 1900 years later, and it is one that remains relevant in our consideration of resilience in the Carey student. All are encouraged to enter the arena where there is the inevitability, at some point, of failure. It is an important part of growth for all who want to learn.