Teaching students resilience and coping skills in a COVID world

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

It’s a question that we typically ask children from a young age, but for students thinking about career pathways, it can often be a source of stress.

“It’s not so much about what you want to do but who do you want to be and what is it going to look like?” says psychologist Karen Young, who specialises in child and adolescent anxiety.

“What I see is a lot of really overwhelmed adolescents, because they just don’t know.

“It feels like a problem, but this uncertainty is actually what’s driving them to think about it, and to experiment and try new things. No time you invest in learning anything is ever wasted, and this is all part of the process.”

Methodist Ladies’ College offers careers advice early, as well as resources for parents on how to start having conversations with their daughters about potential pathways.

“It’s one of the first decisions that, a lot of the time, the girls are making by themselves,” says Chris Walkley, head of careers at MLC.

From year 9, the school runs workshops on work-ready skills, including writing resumes and cover letters, learning how to market themselves and developing the ability to do elevator pitches. In year 10, they participate in work experience, take the Morrisby Profile test to identify career pathways and have one-on-one meetings about subject selection.

“The first thing is trying to get the girls to be aspirational,” adds Walkley. “If you aim high, you might not always achieve your goals but you’re going to do better aiming high than having lower sights.”

In years 11 and 12, students meet with careers counsellors again and explore serious options for tertiary applications and employment. Walkley imagines the ATARs for university courses will rise considering students won’t be able to take gap years and travel after finishing year 12.

“We talk to the girls about being agile because the world of work changes,” he says. “Rather than fixating on a set role, we try to get them to look at a broader area. If someone wants to be a physiotherapist, we look over all of the health sciences.”

With the recent government changes to university fees, the school encourages students to keep preferences in line with their passions.

“There are pathways everywhere and, if you have a real passion, we can help you get there. We ensure that the girls develop their independent career-management skills so they know what to do if they hit a road block in university or early in their career.”

Young says it’s important for parents to help manage anticipated disappointment.

“There can be anxiety driven by, ‘What happens if I fail? What happens if I don’t get in? What happens if … ?’ Often those ‘what ifs’ can be a nebulous glob of things.

“A lot of it can be around disappointing parents and other people who are invested, so it’s really important for the teachers and parents around them to really focus on the process more than the outcome.”

Young recently co-authored the Plan International Australia Guide How to help children cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

She says acknowledging the uncertainties of the world and validating feelings associated with that can help make children feel safer, as well as encouraging them to “play” just for the sake of it and find micro-moments of happiness.

Though this period has been particularly unsettling for students doing VCE and IB, MLC’s wellbeing director, Lisa Gatliff, says the school’s annual resilience survey has reported reduced levels of anxiety during home isolation.

“They had a real sense of looking after themselves personally.”

Adds Young: “I think young people are incredibly brave and resilient. They have adapted incredibly well and I feel like the adults around them should be so proud.”