EdCan Members Event
Nurturing Resilience: How Schools Can Help Educators Develop the Personal Qualities and Social Supports Needed to Thrive Under Stress
FEBRUARY 27, 2025 | 2:00 – 3:00 pm EST
Michael Ungar, Ph.D., is a Family Therapist and Professor of Social Work at Dalhousie University where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience. His research on resilience around the world and across cultures has made him the number one ranked Social Work scholar in the world, with numerous school boards, government agencies, and health and social service organizations relying on his research and clinical work to guide their approaches to nurturing child, family, employee and organizational wellbeing under stress. He the author of 18 books for mental health professionals, educators, caregivers and employers, including his most recent works The Limits of Resilience: When to Persevere, When to Change, and When to Quit, a book for individuals and organizations, Change Your World: The Science of Resilience and the True Path to Success, a book about our emerging understanding of resilience as more than individual grit, and Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs: 20 Skills to Build Resilience, a book for mental health professionals and educators. As well as having received numerous awards for his work, including the Canadian Association of Social Workers National Distinguished Service Award and being named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Dr. Ungar also maintains a blog, Nurturing Resilience, which can be read on Psychology Today’s website.
Throughout this fast-paced, story-filled presentation, Dr. Ungar will show that resilience is much more than just personal ruggedness in the face of adversity. It is instead a reflection of how well educators and their school boards work together to create opportunities for the resources needed for wellbeing while making those resources available in ways that educators experience as meaningful.
Based on Dr. Ungar’s research around the world and his clinical practice, this presentation uses examples from his most recent books, The Limits of Resilience: Knowing When to Persevere, When to Change, and When to Quit, and Change Your World: The Science of Resilience and the True Path to Success to explore how those whose job it is to help others can avoid burnout and maintain their own career and life resilience when stressors pile up at home and at work.
Twelve factors that make us more resilient as adults will be discussed, along with practical tools educators can use to find the resources they need to cope successfully in culturally and contextually relevant ways. Finally, Dr. Ungar will talk about vicarious resilience, the positive impact we educators can experience as helpers when they nurture resilience in others.
Specifically, this webinar will:
1. Show that resilience involves being both rugged and resourced.
2. Discuss 12 factors associated with resilience.
3. Explore how schools and school boards can create a supportive sense of community among educators.
4. Identify strategies individuals and organizations can use to make themselves more resilient, even during times of extreme stress.