From theory to practice: School leaders' perspectives on resilience

Resiliency describes the ability of children to overcome adversity and become successful adults. School-based programs, strategies, or policies designed to enhance resiliency are relatively new. School administrators (n = 10) who had attended an informational meeting about a community-wide resiliency initiative were interviewed about their understanding of resiliency and their present and future plans to implement resiliency initiatives in their schools. Interviewees provided various definitions of resiliency, ranging from a relatively narrow focus on individual characteristics to a broad focus on various environmental factors, Only those administrators who uniformly held the belief that resiliency was an environmental phenomenon that could be promoted in a school setting decided to participate in the community-wide initiative. However, the concept of resiliency has captured the imagination of these school administrators and is seen as a relevant organizing point for designing school programs and school environments, (C) 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc, J Clin Psychol 58: 299-306.2002.