Advertisement

Developing the Resilient Learner: A Resilience Framework for Universities

  • Sarah HoldsworthEmail author
  • Michelle Turner
  • Christina M. Scott-Young
Chapter
First Online:
  • 215 Downloads

Abstract

University students are confronted with multiple stressors as they navigate their way through their studies. How students respond to these stressors will determine the value and success of their university experience. Resilience, the ability to bounce back from stressful situations, has become widely recognised as a vital capability for a successful university experience. Resilience situated in an academic context is dynamic and involves the capacity of learners to adapt and develop in response to adverse situations, so they can move forward with additional capability. Universities play a key role in the development of a learner’s resilience. A conceptual framework is presented which identifies the role of the university in the development of student resilience.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Araujo, N., Wilson, R., & Clarke, B. (2015). Student engagement for employability: A belonging project case study. In T. Thomas, E. Levin, P. Dawson, K. Fraser, & R. Hadgraft (Eds.), Higher education research and development: Learning for life and work in a complex world (Vol. 38, pp. 1–10).Google Scholar
  2. Barnett, R. (2012). Learning for an unknown future. Higher Education Research and Development, 31(1), 65–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Caruana, V., Clegg, S., Ploner, J., Stevenson, J., & Wood, R. (2011). Promoting students’ ‘resilient thinking’ in diverse higher education learning environments. York, United Kingdom: The Higher Education Academy.Google Scholar
  4. Caruana, V. (2012, January 16). Bridging the cultural divide in international higher education. University World News. Retrieved from https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20120214144059875.
  5. Cefai, C. (2004). Pupil resilience in the classroom: A teacher’s framework. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 9(3), 149–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Claxton, G. (2002). Building learning power: Helping young people become better learners. Bristol, England: TLO Ltd.Google Scholar
  7. Cranton, P. (2006). Understanding and promoting transformative learning: A guide for educators of adults. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
  8. DeRosier, M., Frank, E., Schwartz, V., & Leary, K. (2013). The potential role of resilience education for preventing mental health problems for college students. Psychiatric Annals, 43(12), 538–544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Gerson, M., & Fernandez, N. (2013). PATH: A program to build resilience and thriving in undergraduates. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 43, 2169–2184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Hassim, T., Strydom, C., & Strydom, H. (2013, January 14–16). Resilience in a group of first-year psychosocial science students at the North West University (Potchefstroom Campus). In WEI International Academic Conference Proceedings. Antalya, Turkey.Google Scholar
  11. Hegarty, K., & Holdsworth, S. (2015). Weaving complexity and accountability: Approaches to higher education learning design (HELD) in the built environment. In Environment, development and sustainability: A multidisciplinary approach to the theory and practice of sustainable development (Vol. 17, pp. 239–258).Google Scholar
  12. Henn, C., & Andrews, C. (1997, June 13). Why systems thinking is a critical skill. Global Learning, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.globallearningnj.org.
  13. Holdsworth, S., & Hegarty, K. (2016). From praxis to delivery: A higher education learning design framework (HELD). Journal of Cleaner Production, 122, 176–185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Holdsworth, S., Turner, M., & Scott-Young, C. (2018). … Not drowning, waving. Resilience and University: A Student Perspective, Studies in Higher Education, 43(11), 1837–1853.Google Scholar
  15. Hurlington, K. (2010). Bolstering resilience in students: Teachers as protective factors. The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, 25, 1–4.Google Scholar
  16. Hurtado, S., & Carter, D. (1997). Effects of college transition and perceptions of the campus racial climate on Latino college students’ sense of belonging. Sociology of Education, 70, 324–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Johnson, E. (2011). Protective factors and levels of resilience among college students. Unpublished thesis, Department of Educational Studies in Psychology, Research Methodology, and Counselling. The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.Google Scholar
  18. Kalland, A. (2002). Holism and sustainability. Worldviews, 6(2), 145–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Kemmis, S. (2008a). Practice and practice architectures in mathematics education’. In 31st Annual Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA) Conference: Navigating Currents and Charting Directions. St. Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland.Google Scholar
  20. Kemmis, S. (2008b). Research for practice: Knowing doing’. In Pedagogy, Culture and Society (journal) sponsored special conference on ‘researching practice’. Gothenburg, Sweden: University of Gothenburg.Google Scholar
  21. Kitchener, K. S. (1983). Cognition, meta-cognition, and epistemic cognition: A three level model of cognitive processing. Human Development, 26, 222–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Knight, C. (2007). A resilience framework: Perspectives for educators. Health Education, 107(6), 543–555.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Laidlaw, A., McLellan, J., & Ozakinci, G. (2016). Understanding undergraduate student perceptions of mental health, mental well-being and help-seeking behaviour. Studies in Higher Education, 41(12), 2156–2168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Leadbeater, B., Dodgen, D., & Solarz, A. (2005). The resilience revolution: A paradigm shift for research and policy. In R. D. Peters, B. Leadbeater, & R. McMahon (Eds.), Resilience in children, families, and communities: Linking context to practice and policy (pp. 47–63). New York, NY: Kluwer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Martin, A., & Marsh, H. (2009). Academic resilience and academic buoyancy: Multidimensional and hierarchical conceptual framing of causes, correlates and cognate constructs. Oxford Review of Education, 35(3), 353–370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Mezirow, J. (2003). Transformative learning as discourse. Journal of Transformative Education, 1(1), 58–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Perry, W. (1970). Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years: A scheme. New York, Ny: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.Google Scholar
  28. Phair, J. (2014). Motivation and academic resilience in university students: The moderating role of age. Unpublished Masters thesis, University of Tasmania, Australia.Google Scholar
  29. Ribera, A., Miller, A., & Dumford, A. (2017). Sense of peer belonging and institutional acceptance in the first year: The role of high-impact practices. Journal of College Student Development, 58(4), 545–563.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Robotham, D., & Julian, C. (2006). Stress and the higher education student: A critical review of the literature. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 30(2), 107–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Salner, M. (1986). Adult cognitive and epistemological development in systems education. Systems Research, 3(4), 225–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  32. Scott, W. (2002). Education and sustainable development: Challenges, responsibilities and frames of mind. The Trumpeter, 18(1), 1–12.Google Scholar
  33. Scott, W., & Vare, P. (2008). Two sides and an edge. London, England: Development Education Association (DEA). [Published by DEA as a Thinkpiece at http://www.dea.org.uk/resources/item.asp?d=884].
  34. Shaffer, S. (1993). A test of competition in Canadian banking. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 25(1), 49–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. Sriskandarajah, N., Bawden, R., Blackmore, C., Tidball, K., & Wals, A. (2010). Resilience in learning systems: Case studies in university education. Environmental Education Research, 16(5–6), 559–572.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  36. Stallman, H. (2010). Psychological distress in university students: A comparison with general population data. Australian Psychologist, 45(4), 249–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Sterling, S. (2010). Learning for resilience, or the resilient learner? Towards a necessary reconciliation in a paradigm of sustainability education. Environmental Education Research, 16(5–6), 511–528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  38. Strayhorn, T. L. (2012). College students sense of belonging. New York, NY: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  39. Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
  40. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2002). The role of student affairs and services in higher education: A practical manual for developing, implementing and assessing student affairs programmes and services. Paris, France: UNESCO Publishing.Google Scholar
  41. Victorian Health Promotion Foundation. (2015). Current theories relating to resilience and young people: A literature review. Melbourne, Australia: Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, Melbourne.Google Scholar
  42. Walton, G., Cohen, G., Cwir, D., & Spence, S. (2011). Mere belonging: The power of social connection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(3), 513–532.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  43. Walker, C., Gleaves, A., & Grey, J. (2006). Can students within higher education learn to be resilient and educationally speaking, does it matter? Educational Studies, 32(3), 251–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  44. Wilson, R., Murray, G., & Clarke, B. (2018). The RMIT belonging strategy: Fostering student engagement in higher education. In D. Wache & D. Houston (Eds.), Research and development in higher education: (Re) valuing higher education (Vol. 41, pp. 257–266). Adelaide, Australia: Dale Wache and Don Houston.Google Scholar
  45. Winwood, P., Colon, R., & McEwan, K. (2013). A practical measure of workplace resilience developing the resilience at work scale. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Management, 55(10), 1205–1212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019

Authors and Affiliations

  • Sarah Holdsworth
    • 1
    Email author
  • Michelle Turner
    • 1
  • Christina M. Scott-Young
    • 1
  1. 1.RMIT UniversityMelbourneAustralia

Personalised recommendations

Cite chapter

Buy options