Chapter 13: Promoting Resiliency in Youth, Educators, and Communities

Resiliency is an approach that expands our thinking about students, schools, and communities beyond problem identification and resolution to strengths identification and actualization. Problem solving draws one's attention directly to deficits and how to repair them, whether we are talking about students, educators, schools, or communities. Problem solvers have a mind map that focuses on shortcomings and difficulties, which ultimately leads to a fixation on why things don't, can't, and won't work.

In contrast, resiliency thinking concentrates on why things do work, can work, and will work. We need to encourage educators and communities to shift their mind maps away from problem solving and toward resiliency as a frame of reference. A problem-solving mentality can, at best, lead to reduction or elimination of a problem, but a resiliency mentality can expand abilities beyond mere problem resolution and toward creativity, growth, and realization of potential.