Browsing by Subject "haastavat tilanteet"

Global problems and a fast-paced and stress-filled society can undermine well-being and resilience in everyday challenges. The concept of resilience has been discussed a lot in recent years, for example due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the war situation in Europe. Resilience and the associated sense of self-efficacy are important to support even young children in finding ways to cope with the challenges they face throughout life. Previous studies have shown a variety of protective and promoting factors (e.g. po-sitive peer relationships and good self-esteem) that can be associated with different character strengths (e.g. sense of humor and self-regulation). When supporting resilience and self-efficacy, the roles of the family and the school are emphasized. The aim of this thesis is to explore the challenging situations, coping mechanisms and the use of strengths experienced by students, as well as beliefs about one's own abilities in challenging situations. The purpose is to examine whether there are similar features in the coping mechanisms that students tell us about in terms of the factors that promote and protect resilience. The thesis aims to bring more understanding to the connections between strengths and resilience and to highlight the importance of the thoughts and perspectives of small students about different challenges and coping mechanisms. The material for the thesis was produced by interviewing second graders from a primary school in the Helsinki Metropolitan area. 20 students were interviewed with semi-structured theme interviews. The material was analyzed by theory directed content analysis with common themes. The results of the thesis showed that students experience challenging situations in different ways and use a lot of different coping mechanisms. The results showed that the use of strengths is a natural part of coping. The coping mechanisms described by the students were compatible with previous research. In general, the students felt they could cope well in different challenging situations, but there were also those who felt they could cope less well. Based on the results, it can be concluded that even small students can have problem-solving and reflection skills in challenging situations. Especially students who cope less well and who are vulnerable need more support to develop resilience.