“Never give up”: A mixed methods study into the promotion of resilience within a primary school and the way it is experienced

Research into the complex field of resilience has significantly increased during the last two decades. The question of how, and to what extent, schools can play a role in the resilience of children and young people has also been raised. The present mixed methods design study uses the Student Resilience Survey and interviews to explore the promotion of resilience through a goal-setting intervention from two angles. The quantitative part of this research compares the resilience scores of 85 participants at two time points from an identified primary school in which the intervention takes place. Results showed a significant decrease in participant’s resilience over the academic year. The qualitative part of this research explores how participants (children, parents and teachers) experience the goal-setting model and what they believe makes the difference at the identified primary school. The qualitative results discovered three main themes: experiencing the school’s core values and the goal-setting model; resilience; and the culture of the school as a whole. When integrated, the results show that despite the children’s resilience decreasing from time point one to time point two, participants see a value in the goal-setting model and the approaches from the school as a whole. Overall, the present study concludes that participants perceive the goal-setting intervention as beneficial, however further research is needed to establish whether the goal-setting model does indeed support the children’s resilience.