is the ability to be persistence over time to attain difficult goals.

Resiliency (grit, tenacity and perseverance) is often defined by how a challenge or failure is overcome.  This trait’s timeline is measured in years, though it can be practiced and understood in short practice sessions. Resilience is essential for a student’s ability to reach for and eventually succeed in longer-term, high order goals that are rife with challenges, obstacles and setbacks. Achievement often requires dependability coupled with the will to succeed. An OLP activities can be built to specifically challenge the resilience of the participants, so that each student explores their own ultimate long-term learning successes within and through failure.

How can resilience be included in OLP lessons?

Successful feeling students use techniques that will help them be persistant through challenges and failures.  The idea of resiliency within an OLP program helps students place their struggles, failures and fears in a context of ‘experiences to learn from’ and not just a stable mind set of ‘can’t do it.’ The lesson structure helps students move from failure, to success, to challenge, to experience and from failure, to trying it again.

Working off of the growth mindset trait, resiliency traits are presented within an OLP by reframing the group’s discussion of challenges, successes and failures. In order to place the experience within a learning context, OLP resilience activities should contextually influenced by the learning environment that use positive psychological resources and framing.  Each OLP activity is transparently presented as challenging to the group and individual.  The instructor should be clear each participant will experience failure and success.

These psychological framing structures: (a) academic mindset, (b) Perseverance to accomplish goals, (c) strategies and tactics and (d) effortful control guide the student through the challenges with the idea that these activities bring about wisdom. Practiced within an OLP setting that is supportive yet rigorous, students will experience a fair, caring and respectful learning climate that expresses high expectations, while celebrates effort over ability.  The non-cognitive trait of resilience will grow as the student experiences structured feedback and the minimal emphasis on extrinsic rewards.

Click on the link below to view the resilience activities and lesson plan link.  

 Outdoor Leadership Program Rock Climbing Activity