Resiliente Kinder: Evaluation eines Programms zur Förderung der Resilienz in der Elementar-und Primarpädagogik

In the project “Resilient Children”, a resilience promotion program for kindergartens and elementary schools was directly applied and evaluated during the COVID-19-crisis. The aim of the study was to strengthen the three sources of resilience according to Grotberg (1995) I HAVE, I AM and I CAN through targeted exercises and resilience-promoting communication (transfer to everyday life). Additionally, gender differences with regard to the effect of the programme were addressed. “Resilient Children” was evaluated at the impact level (pre-post design) and process level. Eight kindergartens and three elementary schools with 125 children participated. A total of 122 teachers and 70 parents provided information about the child-ren. The results at the impact level showed that from the parent and teacher perspective, and from the self-perspective (children), the three sources of resilience were significantly strengt-hened. With regard to gender differences, the results from the perspective of teachers and parents showed that girls were characterised by greater changes than boys. Compared to the girls, the physical and mental well-being of the boys improved from the parents' point of view. The results of the process evaluation revealed a high level of motivation and enthusiasm for participation in the programme on the part of participating children and teachers. The suc-cess of “Resilient Children” depends on the identification of the teachers with the program.