Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Situation Analysis For every stage of development there are critical periods which affect the development of the individual (Papalia & Olds, 2009). Specifically, childhood is one of these stages. Childhood years, from ages of nine-12 years old, are very crucial and fragile in the development of an individual for it is in this stage when they begin to be aware of negative feelings. These are the times when children experience fears, phobias, anxiety, problems and issues that would affect their future development. According to Erikson, when children equate their own abilities to those of their peers, they build a sense of who they are. If they feel inadequate, they may isolate themselves (Child Development Institute, …show more content…
Resilience is very imperative for children to possess or adopt. It strengthens their spirit to conquer the difficult situations in life where most of them fail. Children should be helped in overcoming the difficulties not only in their academics and their relationship with their peers but in relationships with themselves as well. The normal psychological functioning of children who are not guided to cope with stress may be adversely affected. Developing resilience is necessary that parents, care givers and other adults need to fulfill it as part of their role in the lives of children (Miles, …show more content…
The nine participating teachers were asked to complete a questionnaire which was developed for this study to examine their relevant professional development experiences, knowledge of resilience, ability to identify resilience levels in children and their confidence in assisting children to build resilience. The study found that, despite an obvious lack of professional development in the area of resilience, teachers’ theoretical knowledge of resilience was sound. It also found that teachers had a perceived level of confidence in their ability to identify associated protective factors and to assist children in building resilience. However, teachers’ ability to identify students who had or who lacked these protective factors was problematic. This finding suggests a gap between teachers’ theoretical knowledge of resilience and the practical application of this knowledge in the