ARES Vision: To support the development of resilient children who can thrive in any community.
Resilience is cultivated through the 4 quadrants of the Circle of Courage: Belonging, Mastery, Generosity, and Independence.
At ARES we are learning how to incorporate the Circle of Courage into our teaching and learning. It is a model of youth empowerment and resiliency, which recognizes that in order for youth to be emotionally healthy, they need to feel a sense of belonging, mastery, independence and generosity.
The model originated in a book called, Reclaiming Youth at Risk, by Brendtro, Brokenleg and Van Bockern (1990) and is based on the First Nation’s philosophy of child rearing.
The central theme of this model is that a set of shared values must exist in our school community to create an environment that will ultimately benefit all.
We continue to use ideas from the Caring School Community, a social and emotional learning (SEL) program that builds school-wide community, develops students’ social skills as well as SEL competencies. This program aligns well with the Circle of Courage, so we incorporate ideas from both. Our school wide activities, buddy program, and daily morning meetings in many classes, are examples of this implementation.
