Emotional literacy, resilience and a process for change in education : making the links clear

One-off parent education evenings targeting adolescent health and wellbeing may provide a response to a crisis and enable schools to tick health issues off a priority list. However some schools are wanting more than this. The Community Change Project (CGP) uses an action research model to investigate models of change that promote sustainability and promote community responsibility in regard to student wellbeing. A group of NSW independent schools chose to research and promote safe, stimulating and inclusive classrooms that nurture learning and psychosocial development as protective factors to enhance resilience and build emotional literacy. The impact of relational and pedagogical factors was explored as a means of delaying the onset of experimentation with drugs. The action research model involved a cycle of identifying school and community contexts, relevant issues and goals, conducting assessment of the contributing risk and protective factors, planning community action and intervention and on-going monitoring planning and evaluation. Schools used the Quality of School Life Survey to initiate an evidence-based approach for interventions targeting pedagogical practice and enhancing student protective factors. This work provides powerful learning for independent schools across NSW and was timely in light of new syllabus documents and the continued work of projects such as MindMatters.