Empowering Students with Wellbeing & Resilience Skills and Strategies
Empowering Students with Wellbeing & Resilience Skills and Strategies
Ms Amanda Carlon , Ms Olivia Tunks
In 2021 , the Co-Curricular & Student Development team launched a university wide development program , Leadership Foundations . This program aims to assist students develop core personal and professional skills .
A needs analysis with UNSW students and academics informed the program and revealed gaps in stress management and the ability to adapt to change . Leadership , emotional intelligence and resilience have been identified as desirable skills for graduates entering the workforce and for successful career progression ( WEF , 2020 ; PwC , 2021 ). The need to develop resilience skills has also been amplified by the pandemic .
Drawing from expert thought leaders in a range of fields including organisational psychology , positive psychology , neuroscience , human development , and further areas ( Brown , 2018 ; Goleman , 1995 ; Goleman , 2001 ; Edmondson , 1999 ) we designed a blended learning experience through a series of six modules , one of the modules being Wellbeing & Resilience .
This module focuses on evidence-based skills and strategies to expand personal capacity when encountering challenges . The theories drawn upon include PERMA + ( Seligman , 2013 ; Seligman , 2012 .), 5-Ways to Wellbeing ( Aked et al ., 2008 ), SEARCH framework ( Waters , 2019 ), and the Resilience Factor ( Reivich & Shatté , 2002 ).
As part of the learning experience students create a personal self-care plan and practice skills that can be used to navigate setbacks and change . Students then reflect how they plan to use the skills and strategies , what they would like to develop further , and identify support / s they can reach out to for assistance . We have received exceedingly positive feedback from students about the Wellbeing & Resilience module .
References :
Aked , J . Marks , N . Cordon , C . & Thompson , S . ( 2008 ) 5-Ways to Wellbeing : A report presented to the Foresight Project on communicating the evidence base for improving people ’ s well-being . Centre for well-being , nef ( the new economics foundation ).
Brown , B . ( 2018 ). Dare to Lead . London , England : Vermilion .
Edmondson , A . ( 1999 ) Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams . Administrative Science Quarterly , Vol . 44 , No . 2 ( Jun ., 1999 ), pp . 350-383 . Johnson Graduate School of Management , Cornell University .
Goleman , D . ( 1995 ). Emotional intelligence . Bantam Books .
Goleman , D . ( 2001 ). An EI-based theory of performance . In Cherniss , C . & Goleman , D . ( Eds .), The emotionally intelligent workplace : How to select for , measure , and improve emotional intelligence in individuals , groups , and organizations ( pp . 27 – 44 ). Jossey-Bass .
PwC . ( 2021 ). Workforce of the future : The competing forces shaping 2030 . https :// www . pwc . com / gx / en / services / people-organisation / workforce-of-the-future / workforce-of-the-future-the-competingforces-shaping-2030-pwc . pdf
Reivich , K ., & Shatté , A . ( 2002 ). The resilience factor : 7 essential skills for overcoming life ’ s inevitable obstacles . Broadway Books . Seligman , M . E . P . ( 2012 ). Flourish : A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being . New York , NY : Simon and Schuster . Seligman , M . E . P . ( 2013 ). Building the state of well-being : A strategy for South Australia ( Adelaide Thinker in Residence 2012 – 2013 ). South Australia : Government of South Australia . WEF ( World Economic Forum ) ( 2020 ) The Future of Jobs Report 2020 . https :// www . weforum . org / reports / the-future-of-jobs-report-2020 .
32