We have now come to the end of the academic year and as I reflect on all the learning and successes that the children have attained, I am extremely proud that each and every one of us, as a school community, achieved numerous milestones together. There was the Titian Kasih charity drive and our international week activities on the ‘Conscious Traveller’ learning about food waste and reinforcing sustainable ways of living. There was also the memorable Ocean Week when the students tackled issues like plastic use in Malaysia and also globally. Our final Recipe+ for the year is resilience. Resilience is a big part in raising our children ready for a volatile, constantly changing future. It is also a huge part of TISPC and our IPC. I have been very fortunate over the years to have engaged in numerous deep discussions with global educators from different school settings about the importance of resilience in these uncertain times.

The Oxford Dictionary defines resilience as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. Resilience is when challenges are faced with patience, strength and tolerance, then to rise from these situations with a positive outlook, learning from the experience to be ready for the next stage of life’s journey. Just look at how we rose from the pandemic and other adversities. Is resilience something that is innate or an attribute that can be nurtured? How do we build it in ourselves and in our children?

Resilience expert, Dr Deborah Gilboa, MD, author, clinical physician and public speaker, explains that resilience in individuals has somewhere between a 20 and 40 percent genetic component – meaning innate nature, and the factors on how children are raised impact the other 60 to 80 percent of the results. Dr Giiboa works with groups across multiple generations, to rewire their attitudes and beliefs, and create resilience through personal accountability and a completely different approach to adversity. It is interesting to also factor in Harvard’s Graduate School of Education report, ‘The Science of Resilience - Why Some Children Can Thrive Despite Adversity’.To put it simply, Harvard’s education experts narrowed it down to one straightforward explanation. They concluded that “every child who winds up doing well has had at least one stable and committed relationship with a supportive adult”. The presence of loving, stable relationships is key to becoming resilient individuals.