TRA-5400

Aguilar, E. (2018). Focus on the bright spots. In Onward: Cultivating emotional resilience in educators. Jossey-Bass.
To read the full article, click on PDF icon.
This chapter (pp. 173-196) guides educators in learning to develop a strengths-based approach in their work.

Curtin, K. A., Schweitzer, A., Tuxbury, K., & D’Aoust, J. A. (2016). Investigating the factors of resiliency among exceptional youth living in rural underserved communities. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 35(2), 3–9.
This study examined resilience among exceptional youth living in rural poverty. Findings include factors based on the resiliency constructs of risk, positive personal qualities, and positive social conditions. Strengths-based treatment is discussed.

Jagers, R. J., Rivas-Drake, D., & Williams, B. (2019). Transformative Social and Emotional Learning (SEL): Toward SEL in service of educational equity and excellence. Educational Psychologist, 54(3), 162–184.
This article explains transformative social and emotional learning (SEL), which promotes educational equity and excellence. The authors discuss issues of culture, identity, agency, belonging, and engagement and emphasize the importance of adult development.

Hass, M. R. (2018). Interviewing to understand strengths. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 10(3), 315–321.
Interviewing clients about their strengths is an important part of developing a complete understanding of their lives and has several advantages over simply focusing on problems and pathology. Prerequisites for skillfully interviewing for strengths include the communication skills that emerge from a stance of not knowing, developing a vocabulary of strengths that allows practitioners to identify and name them, and having an "ear for strengths." Building on this, Saleebey (2008) offers a framework of eight types of questions that allow you to explore strengths in-depth with clients.