Resilience Begins with Beliefs

Building on Student Strengths for Success in School

As adults working in schools, educators’ beliefs translate into messages, actions, and behaviors that can enhance or impede student success. This book affirms why beliefs are so important and why it is imperative to spend time focusing on, reflecting upon, and affecting educators’ beliefs—especially about students’ resilience. The author draws from her extensive experience in research, policy, and practice to present a wealth of information, strategies, and tools to help educators transfer current resilience theory and research into practice. Unfortunately, being an educator is not always publically supported, financially rewarded, or highly valued. Responding to these circumstances, Resilience Begins with Beliefs is an effective resource to support the resilience of the teachers and administrators working in our schools, as well as to facilitate any environment conducive to greater learning and life outcomes for all students.

“In this book, Sara provides clear tools, techniques, and strategies that can actually take something as elusive as beliefs and make it something understandable and embraceable in a concrete context.  Furthermore, this book is not only written for teachers but also for educators, administrators, and policymakers in education at all levels—federal, state, and local.  In fact, I feel that this book would be a beneficial resource for anyone working within any human service system.”
—From the Foreword by Bonnie Benard, Author, with over 25 years of experience promoting the concept of resilience based practice nationally and internationally.

“Truebridge has provided a gift to the field, bridging scientific evidence with everyday practice in schools toward maximizing resilience. She eloquently describes the enormous potential of authentic, caring relationships with teachers, and the critical need for teachers to be supported themselves in their ‘caretaking roles.’  With specific implementation directions provided, this is a must-read for educators at all levels of children’s development, from preschool through the end of high school.”
—Suniya Luthar, Foundation Professor of Psychology, Arizona State University.

“Resilience Begins with Beliefs is a splendid book that is strongly recommended for anyone involved in, or even just interested in, education.  It is research based but also immensely practical and very engagingly written.  Major environmental positives that apply to schools, as well as to other settings, are caring relationships, high expectations, and opportunities to participate, contribute, and take responsibility.  This book integrates all of this in a most interesting and helpful way.  It is a marvellous achievement.”
—Sir Michael Rutter, Professor of Developmental Psychopathology, Institute of Psychiatry, London

• Identifies concrete strategies for harnessing resilience in classrooms and schools.
• Encourages and promotes reader interaction with reflection questions in every chapter.
• Offers format suggestions for preservice and professional development programs.
• Provides many user-friendly features, such as personal reflection ideas for facilitators and participants, and a resilience-in-practice checklist.

Sara Truebridge is an education consultant and researcher with over 20 years of classroom experience. Prior to teaching, she was the legislative analyst for education in the New York State Senate and the special assistant to the New York State Secretary of State. She also serves as an education consultant to films, including Race to Nowhere and Love, Hate, Love.