How can resilience be developed in UK schools?

Abstract

It seems obvious that resilience is a quality that we ought to develop among young people. It is a favoured term, too, in many different settings ranging from social work and health all the way through to the United States Army (Seligman, 2011). Even so, resilience has its limits. After persisting for years through multiple injuries to win two Olympic gold medals Dame Kelly Holmes recently disclosed her on-going struggle with post-athletic life and her deliberate self-harm. Similarly, in cycling, Sir Chris Hoy announced on retiring that he has used up 'every last ounce of energy and effort at London 2012', adding that despite wanting to go on for another year to win a seventh gold medal, he realised that he could not do so (BBC, 2013). It seems as if resilience can come and go; it can run out; and it can resist transfer from one domain of life to another even for the most talented and toughest.