Fostering Resilience in Remote Learning
Why Police Test Tutor is Different: Fostering Resilience in Remote Learning
“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.”
~Margaret Thatcher
“Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work through difficult problems."
~Margaret Thatcher
I chose these quotes to signify the challenges we have faced through the pandemic. It has been a learning curve—attempting to navigate life’s changes since the stay-at-home mandates went into effect. Our continued efforts to work through this challenging time only demonstrates how persistent and resilient we are.
In-person learning is accepted widely as an extremely effective learning environment. However, when COVID-19 reared its ugly head, we were forced to adapt our learning and teaching behaviours, and we have had to change our way of thinking about remote learning.
Remote learning fosters resilience, removes exclusionary biases, and is an excellent way to learn and master skills. Students who have succeeded during the pandemic have overcome challenges by taking risks, acknowledging faults, and striving for excellence.
Remote learning follows the guiding principle that every student has the right to learn. People should have the right to learn despite differences in personal circumstances, such as needing to work and care for their families. Learning should not be exclusive to those who can only attend in-person classes. Remote learning focuses on equity and access to education.
Remote learning is inclusive education that gives people a chance to go to school, learn and develop the skills they need to thrive, even while balance work and home responsibilities. Traditional in-person education excludes people who have work and home responsibilities.
Unicef states that “disability is the single most serious barrier to education across the globe.” A shift in thinking about remote learning and those who experience a disability can bring to light the immense benefits of remote learning (comfort, view recorded lectures, multiple ways of interacting with others, etc.).
In an educational setting, students and teachers alike face challenges—but once you turn those challenges into a space for growth and adaptation, you can get excited about obstacles because it means you have an opportunity to learn to overcome them AND explore new territory.
We have the technology to allow people to learn and network from a distance, which is amazing. Let’s embrace this extraordinary time to make worldwide connections rather than going back to the confines of a four-walled classroom.
Using the Three Cs of Resilience to Foster Persistence and Resilience
In a learning environment, teachers and students can learn how to become more resilient and to strive for success by following the three Cs of Resilience:
Challenge: Resilient people can reshape difficult situations and obstacles as challenges, rather than being hindered. Their view of change is that it is a stepping stone along life’s path. With an open-minded approach, and a willingness to see the lessons in failing, resilient people view setbacks as an opportunity for personal growth.
Interview questions: Try to adopt this same approach in a job interview. Position your challenges and the mistakes in your past as a part of your growth experience. You are likely to be asked to share a time when you have overcome a challenge. At Police Test Tutor, we recognize where you’ve come from and where you would like to go and will help coach and guide you to the right responses.
Commitment: Resilient people have a powerful sense of duty. This sense of obligation is not restricted to work; resilient people have healthy and meaningful relationships with other people and things they feel deeply for. Having such a sense of commitment gives resilient people the power to persevere when up against adversity.
If you have been taking remote learning classes or undergoing new skills training, you are demonstrating that you are committed to your new direction, and this commitment enables you to be more engaged with what comes next.
Control – Resilient people do not spend time concerned with things that cannot be changed or controlled. Focusing time and energy where it will be most impactful, resilient people have a sense of empowerment and confidence. In Covey’s words, resilient people spend time expanding their circle of influence instead of becoming trapped in their circle of concern.
When forced into a remote environment, how you interact with the materials provided is up to you. Discovering how best to complete the tasks at hand when no one is looking over your shoulder is a true sign of resilience.
The 5 Pillars of Resilience
Self-awareness is one of the greatest strengths you can bring to any job, especially one as a first responder. In a remote learning environment, you will be able to demonstrate some elements of control, allowing you to determine what works best for you and setting you up to apply that knowledge in the future.
Mindfulness: Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention to the present. When you are mindful, you can witness your thoughts and feelings from a distance. Mindfulness means you observe without judging your thoughts as good or bad. Conscious people live in the moment and play active roles in their own life.
Succeeding with remote learning is next to impossible without mindfulness. This experience and understanding can be harnessed and channelled into managing the way one reacts to a situation in their personal life.
Self-care: You can interpret self-care differently depending on who you are and your circumstances. In its basic definition, it means the actions that we take to care for ourselves, our children, our families, and others that help us stay in good physical and mental health. Self-care means that you care for your mental well-being and physical well-being; this could mean social interactions, care for physical ailments, aesthetic care and maintaining general good health. As a result, you approach challenges with a sense of energy, vitality and confidence. Self-care is initiated and perpetuated by our active engagement.
The flexibility afforded by remote learning allows participants to build a self-care routine. This routine can help keep you and your relationships healthy once in the workforce.
Positive relationships: Positive relationships are connections we have with people we care for and care for us in return. Our connections with others are one of the most profound experiences we can have in our lives. By building positive relationships with others, we will find ourselves happier and more fulfilled. We will feel supported, supportive, and connected. We feel more comfortable, healthier and more satisfied with our lives when in positive relationships.
Remote learning allows us to interact with people in an interactive way that can foster understanding of self, and others, while creating a more inclusive and supportive environment.
Purpose: Purpose is a recognition that we belong to and serve something other than ourselves. We shape the attitude we have toward others and our circumstances with purpose. We can find purpose in our faith, family, a political party, environmental causes, or being a part of a positive organization.
Despite the fact that much of today’s remote learning takes place in a solo environment, it allows learners to connect with more people than they would in person. In class, people form groups quickly and tend to stay within those groups. Remote learning gives everyone a voice and can broaden perspectives and horizons, helping people understand that there is more than one reason for doing something.
Police Test Tutor Is Different
Police Test Tutor understands that each one of us has a unique set of life experiences that have created personal resilience and life skills that are transferable in professional life. Because the services are conducted remotely, they are accessible to everyone.
We offer police test prep, interview coaching, and resume writing in a remote environment. We will work with you to identify the strengths and experiences you’ve had that will make you the ideal candidate for the position you’re after.
None of us is perfect. It is these imperfections, and how we have adapted to them and to our new, distanced and remote way of life that best demonstrate our strengths and resiliencies.
At Police Test Tutor, I will meet you where you are and help you persevere to reach where you are going.