Enhancing resilience and emotional intelligence skills

through a tutoring system:

Case study from Tecnológico de Monterrey High
School after 2017 Mexico City earthquake

Fernando A. Mora, Claudia V. López,

Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico City High School, fmora@tec.mx
Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico City High School, claudia.lop@tec.mx
 The 6th International Conference on Education 2020

ENHANCING RESILIENCE AND EMOTIONAL

INTELLIGENCE SKILLS THROUGH A
TUTORING SYSTEM:
CASE STUDY FROM TECNOLÓGICO DE
MONTERREY HIGH SCHOOL AFTER 2017
MEXICO CITY EARTHQUAKE

Abstract: September 19th of 2017 was a harsh day for Mexico after an 7.1 earthquake shook up
Mexico City. Due to this event, Tecnológico de Monterrey High School was severely damaged, not
only in terms of infrastructure, but the community suffered deeply and the emotional impact was
immediate. PrepaTec1 Tutoring System was key for students to overcome the short and long-term
psychological consequences of this event. This paper seeks to answer the question: how traumatic
events can be an opportunity to design academic experiences for developing resilience and emotional
intelligence in high school students. Under the premise resilience is a cornerstone to cope with social
problems and natural disasters, any adversity can be an educational opportunity. The methodology
for this case-study was, first, 400 students responded the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (IES) –a
survey that measures multicultural competencies–. One crucial result was that 66% of students
ranked low in hardiness. It means students have trouble when they want to manage their thoughts
and emotions in diverse situations or learn from failures and setbacks. Second, the same students
cohort completed the VIA Character Strengths Survey. The outcomes yielded 30% of the students’
least developed character strength was ‘spirituality and faith’. The research infers in order to develop
hardiness or resilience in young people, academic experiences should cultivate transcendence and
life meaning. PrepaTec Integral Tutoring System seeks to develop and strengthen student’s socio-
emotional skills and shape change agents who will build societies that are more resilient.

Keywords: Higher Education, Educational Innovation, Emotional Intelligence, Tutoring,

Adolescents, SEL, Social Emotional Learning, Resilience, Anxiety

Introduction

As teacher-tutors working at the Tecnológico de Monterrey High School during the 2017 Mexico City
Earthquake and witnessing its consequences, working on the design of activities and strategies to
overcome this event, became a necessity. To asses students’ capabilities to cope with adversity and
distressful experiences, that were and were not related to the earthquake and the subsequent loss of
our facilities, turned into our high school’s priority. Resilience involves behaviors, thoughts, and
actions that anyone can learn and develop. Research has shown resilience is not an extraordinary
personality trait, but an ordinary character strength than can and should be developed to achieve a
well-being state. For this reason, after students and teachers experienced 2017 Mexico City
Earthquake, the present study seeks to answer to, how traumatic events can be an opportunity to

1
PrepaTec refers to Tecnológico de Monterrey High School
 The 6th International Conference on Education 2020

design academic experiences for developing resilience and emotional intelligence in high school
students?

Resilience has been the center of socio-emotional learning trends, as well as the center of research for
the last fifteen years. It has been a wide socio-emotional skill studied and has nearly become a
platitude, due to the overuse of the concept. However, we can trace deep reflections on virtues or
strength characters for coping with adversity, since ancient Greek philosophers, Roman stoics,
medieval scholars, and modern thinkers. Those philosophical reflections resound in a generation
constantly labeled as fragile and with low tolerance to frustration.

What is Resilience?

Nowadays, resilience has raised especial interest in environment studies. Carl Folke points out the
interest of it has emerged as a concept that enables dialogue and transdisciplinary collaboration for
cultivating sustain development in the face of expected and surprising change (Folke, 2016). The
annual citations have jumped from less than 100 in year 1995 to more than 20,000 citations in 2015
(Folke, 2016).

Resilience is a concept found in many disciplines, academic fields, public policy making or business
strategies. The state-of-the-art involves different definitions of resilience, depending the focus of the
study. Definitions broad from the capacity to the return rate to equilibrium upon a perturbation, or in
popular terms, resilience is having the capacity to persist in the face of change, to continue to develop
with ever changing environments (Folke, 2016). A wide-ranging definition consider it as the ability of
an individual to “bounce back” after experiencing stress. There is a vast number of studies on
resilience and, Carl Folke does an extensive compilation of the state of the art on resilience from
natural science standpoint and its impact in other fields.

Resilience reflects the ability of people, communities, societies, and cultures to live and develop with
change, with ever-changing environments. Although there is no single, universally accepted
definition, when referring to resilience in individuals, concepts such as capacity, character,
uncertainty, adversity, and stress, normally emerge. Most of current literature regarding developing
resilience in people is relevant to individuals who experience trauma and how to cope with it. Many
definitions assumes that stress negatively affects well-being and that individuals can do things or
access resources to counteract that negative effect (Meadows et al., 2015).

On the other hand, there are some voices like Brad Evans and Julian Reid who state resilience as an
ubiquitous concept that is currently propounded by liberal agencies and institutions as the
fundamental property which peoples and individuals worldwide must possess to demonstrate their
capacities to live with danger (Evans & Reid, 2014). In some way, resilience is an individual response
to cope with systemic uncertainty and volatility consequence of political power.

Nevertheless, from Ethics, resilience can be considered as a set of resources, which refer to individual
attributes, characteristics, and qualities of an individual. To cope with adversities and obstacles that an
individual will certainly face in his life, an individual should develop resources to enhance his
resilience. For instance, hardiness, as the capacity of an individual to handle stress and strain
effectively and not let it lead to negative outcomes, is a resilience resource (Meadows et al., 2015, p.
 The 6th International Conference on Education 2020

9). Other resilience resources are comprehensibility, self-management, transcendence, purpose of life,
self-knowledge, empathy, sympathy, among others emotional intelligence skills.

Resilience resources are vital socio emotional skills to reach happiness –understood as the state of
well-being and human flourishing– and to overcome adversity. In this train of thought, Martha
Nussbaum points out education on emotions are fundamental for human flourishing. As she considers
emotions not as blind animal forces, but intelligent and perceptive parts of the personality that are
closely related to beliefs and desires (Nussbaum, 1994, p. 78). This consideration allows the
possibility of education on emotions, since they are forms of intentional consciousness, directed to a
specific object.

This conception, which trace back to Aristotle’s philosophy, is useful when thinking in socio
emotional learning (SEL). Other interpretations, those that consider emotions as an irrational part of
the human being or like something untamable, hamper the possibility of education on emotions.

Aristotle explains the importance of discerning between things worth to worry and which not, an
aspect psychologist had explored to foster resilience. Martha Nussbaum explain the importance of the
capacity to discern between worthy and unworthy matter to worry about:
“In short, there are things in the world that it is right to care about: friends, family, one's own life
and health, the worldly conditions of virtuous action. These can sometimes be damaged by
events not under one’s own control. For these reasons it is right to have some fear. The good
person, rather than being a fearless person, is one who will have appropriate rather than
inappropriate fears-and not be deterred by them from doing what is required and noble. The
objects of fear are appropriate objects of pity when they happen to someone else. Education in
proper fear and pity would consist in learning what the appropriate attachments are, and what
damages one can reasonably expect in a variety of circumstances”(Nussbaum, 1994, p. 94).

In proper proportion, fear and pity are necessary for developing resilience resources and, in this way,
to be socio-emotional prepared to cope with daily life adversities or unfortunate events.
Understanding resilience from the Ethics standpoint, it allows understanding this concept for the
human flourishing and the strategies to achieve this educative purpose. Educated emotions bring
harmony and enable a good human life. The education on emotions is not only essential as a force that
motivates virtuous action, but also as a recognition of truth and value. Meanwhile, rationality
recognizes truth; the recognition of some ethical truths is impossible without emotion; indeed, certain
emotions centrally involve such recognitions (Nussbaum, 1994, p. 95).

Educational Challenges in Centennials

Centennials or generations Z, young people born between 1994 and 2010, are digital natives who
were born when the Internet was already part of their reality. It determines their way of living and
socializing. “It is the first generation that has assumed that the world has become small, that diversity
is inherent to any modern society and that democratic development, coupled with technology, is
unstoppable” (Ortega Cachón & Vilanova, 2016).

However, their technological dependence can limit them to face a different reality from digital, and
combined with a characteristic of mishandling of their emotions and interpersonal relationships, it can
lead to frustration and depression. Faced with the idealization offered by the digital world, they run
the risk of colliding with reality.
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The doubling of hospital admissions for suicidal teenagers over the last 10 years in the United States
(Denizet-Lewis, 2017) match the 2019 World Health Organization numbers; Suicide is the second
cause in the group of 10 to 24 years; and these figures do not include suicide attempts, which are up to
20 times more frequent than cases of consummate suicide. Anxiety and Depression has become the
hallmark of this generation.

Anxiety is all about the avoidance of uncertainty and discomfort. Young Generation Zs are avoidance-
based and not equipped to cope or to problem-solve in the face of unexpected events (Denizet-Lewis,
2017). Therefore, the term of resilience has attracted attention in recent years, as an educative path to
not only emphasize in academic preparation, but also to focus on teaching kids the emotional skills
they need to succeed, not only academically but in their lives. Without healthy coping skills, teens are
feeling anxious over daily and minor disturbances. Socioemotional learning has become a challenge
and responsibility for schools.

Education on Resilience Resources

Epicurus, the ancient Greek philosopher, thought human beings are troubled creatures dragged by
outside forces. Fragile and vulnerable against a great number of sufferings and illness. Probably,
Epicurus would have point out that the anxiety and depression on youth is a disturbance of the soul,
which is causing unhappiness to this generation. But, “fortunately for us, the very same desires that
cause anxiety, frenetic activity, and all sorts of distress by their insatiable boundlessness are also the
desires that are thoroughly dependent on false beliefs” (Nussbaum, 1994, p. 105). Nevertheless, the
path proposed by the majority of Hellenistic philosophers; ataraxia, understood as the freedom from
disturbance and anxiety in the soul and freedom from pain in the body. It is not feasible for a
generation continuously bombed with information, social pressure, and general expectations to be
fulfilled.

In this way, cultivation of emotions for developing emotional intelligence seems quite familiar as the
Aristotelian path developing virtues. Emotions and passions cannot be extirpated; however, they can
be governed. It is possible to shape socioemotional competent young people to face their inside and
outside world.

On this direction, Martha Nussbaum recovers the importance to educate through humanities and to
abandon a model of education for economic growth, which only focuses on developing basic skills,
literacy, and numeracy. In contrast, educating the Human Development paradigm, education will
focus on ‘capabilities’. This model of development recognizes that all individuals possess an
inalienable human dignity that must be respected by laws and institutions (Nussbaum, 2010, p. 18).

According to Nussbaum, capabilities that must be cultivated for an emotional intelligence in young
people are: compassion, sympathy and empathy. In this sense, schools should be the places to teach
attitudes toward human weakness and helplessness that suggest that weakness is not shameful and the
need for others not unmanly; teach children not to be ashamed of need and incompleteness but to see
these as occasions for cooperation and reciprocity. Places to develop the capacity for genuine concern
for others, both near and distant. And, promote accountability by treating each child as a responsible
agent (Cfr. Nussbaum, 2010, p. 23). Nussbaum’s conception on emotional intelligence enables
fragility and vulnerability as formative experiences.
 The 6th International Conference on Education 2020

Nussbaum’s ‘capabilities’ go along the general statement that describes ‘competence’ as the desired
knowledge, skills, behaviors, and attitudes of a student from a program or after completing a course.
Competencies commonly define the applied skills and knowledge that enable people to successfully
perform in professional, academic, and other life contexts.

Case Study: Tecnológico de Monterrey High School after 2017 Mexico City earthquake

On September 7th of 2017, an 8.2-magnitude earthquake with an epicenter in Chiapas left 102 people
dead. Twelve days later, on September 19th, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit Mexico City, Morelos,
and its surroundings. The earthquake aftermath was 369 human losses, 5 765 thousand damaged
houses and, according to the Ministry of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development (SEDATU),
250 thousand people were left in patrimonial poverty; 16 thousand damaged educational
establishments and 475 thousand 098 students from 2 thousand 896 schools must be relocated to
continue their studies. The immediate emotional impact and long-term psychological consequences
have not been fully measured or observed, therefore, may not have been widely addressed.
Tecnológico de Monterrey suffered heavy structural damage and some members of its community
reported post-traumatic stress disorder.

Two weeks after the earthquake, academic life returned outside the campus using digital tools, the
whole semester was on virtual classes. Zoom Video was used as the main platform, through which
classes continued to be taught and students’ socio-emotional monitoring was performed. In January
2018 temporary classrooms were enabled and on-site classes restarted for the January-May 2018
semester. Students who enrolled in high school in August 2017 and lost their campus the following
month were known as the “earthquake generation.”

In August 2017, 872 students enrolled to first semester in PrepaTec; the re-entry in January 2018 was
of 839 students for its 2nd semester. The dropout rate was of 3.79% in first year students, a number
that is normally expected on regular conditions and with an operational campus. The so-called
“earthquake generation” finishes its high school studies in 2020 with a total population of 727
candidates to graduate in June 2020 and 81 in December 2020. It means a terminal efficacy of 96% of
the starting generation, a success attributed to close follow-up to students from teachers and tutors.

Educational Mentoring or Tutoring success

Mentoring and tutoring are quite similar words in the educative realm. As David Goleman defines it,
mentoring can be for personal development or related to occupational skillsets for specific jobs or
roles. It can also be for training generic competences (Goleman, 1999, pp. 15–45)
Mentoring refers to a relationship between two or more individuals in which at least one of those
individuals provides guidance to the other. In the context of this study, mentoring refers to the
relationship between a youth and an adult who supports, guides, and assists the youth (Anderson,
2013, p. 2).

On the other hand, tutoring is commonly used as an educative method in which a tutor uses
individualization and differentiated instruction to provide remediation to students-tutees-for mastery
learning. The many advantages of tutoring contribute to increased student achievement and positive
affective outcomes. The disadvantages of tutoring occur sporadically and are typically manageable.
 The 6th International Conference on Education 2020

Current research on tutoring has examined its impacts and determined that most procedures cause
good results (Cfr. Merrit, 2019).

The purpose of modern structured mentoring programs is to reduce risks by supplementing (but not
replacing) a youth’s relationship with his or her parents. Some programs have broad youth
development goals, while others focus more narrowly on a particular outcome such as reducing gang
activity or substance abuse, or improving grades (Anderson, 2013, p. 3).

Both concepts are interchangeable used for educational purposes. They should not be confused with
the term of coaching, which aims to improve the performance of a specific role. In contrast, tutoring
or mentoring are wider concepts, which stem from the Greek word mentor, as it made its first
appearance in Homer’s epic poem the Odyssey. In the Odyssey, Mentor raises Odysseus’s son,
Telemachus, providing the young boy with guidance and wisdom while Odysseus is away at war. This
concept of mentorship, meaning a relationship in which a mentor acts as both a teacher and guide for
a protégé, has evolved throughout the centuries and become an important development tool in many
twenty-first century professional and educational settings, both formal and informal (Western, 2012).

Tutoring and mentoring systems have been used in schools and universities, mainly to improve
academic performance. Although tutoring or mentoring has not shown effective results for raising
academic performance on students, both have helped educational institutions and programs for
increasing attendance and reducing drop-out numbers (Holtzman et al., 2017, p. 6).

Moreover, in schools where there are strong student-teacher relationships, students will excel not only
academically but also in other aspects of student’s dimensions. Brendtro, Brokenleg, and Van
Bockern point out that “contemporary society is creating a growing number of children at risk for
relationship impairment” (2002). In this sense, a figure in school or universities who meet periodically
with students to talk about social, personal, and academic issues; by working with parents to enhance
their support for their children; and by being and an advocate for students in the school. It is an
educational necessity for generation Z youth (Brendtro et al., 2002, p. 17).

When students feel more attached to teachers, more committed to their school, they are more likely to
obtain higher academic achievement and less deviant behaviors. In this train of thought, “person-to-
person connectedness, opportunities for participation and contribution, and high self-expectations”
(Brown, 2004) are three component that support for developing resilience in students.

PrepaTec Tutoring System

The Integral Tutoring System (SIT by its initials in Spanish) of Tecnológico de Monterrey High
School is designed to promote the human flourishing of their students. Through significant
experiences that allow students to develop their emotional, social, ethical, and moral skills.

The (SIT) defines social and emotional learning (SEL) as the process through which the necessary
knowledge, attitudes, and skills are acquired and effectively applied to identify, understand, and
manage emotions. Establish and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy towards others, create
and maintain positive relationships and make responsible decisions are the competences to develop
during high school studies.
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The SIT is made up of an interdisciplinary group of tutors who are committed to accompany students,
academically, but mainly emotionally. Tutors establish a channel of continuous and effective
communication, firstly with the student, but also with their parents and teachers. They are responsible
to design and implement strategies to strengthen autonomy and self-management. The role of the
tutors is to observe, identify, and take care of student’s potential, strengths, and vulnerabilities. They
recognize achievements and encourage the development of new challenges. In this respect, the tutor is
the one who carries out socio-emotional accompaniment and monitors students from the beginning of
high school to its completion.

Positive psychology underlies and support Tecnológico de Monterrey High School SIT. It is the
methodology for fostering academic performance through positive emotions and mental health.
Positive Psychology studies human behavior to promote individuals to develop fully to form
communities with well-being (Seligman, M. E. P. Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).

Assessing Resilience Resources through Intercultural Effectiveness Scale Survey and Character Strength
Survey

PrepaTec is a private institution with 30 campuses across the main cities of the country where 27, 402
students study high school in total. Majority of students come from well-off families, however, 49%
of the students benefits from scholarship or financial support programs. Mexico City PrepaTec has a
population of 2,400 students enrolled in three different three-year programs: Bicultural, Multicultural,
and International Baccalaureate.

The target population to assess the development of resilience resources was the generation 2017-2020
of the Multicultural High School of Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico City2 or the “earthquake
generation”. The total number of students on high school first year in 2017 was 872 students, divided
on the three high school programs: 549 Bicultural Program students, 254 Multicultural Program
students, and 69 International Baccalaureate Program students3. During the January-May 2018
semester –following the earthquake semester– 2394 students took the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale
Survey (IES).

The Intercultural Effectiveness Scale evaluates competencies essential for effective interaction with
people from different cultures and demographic backgrounds. The scale focuses on three main
competencies that influence intercultural adaptability and effectiveness: Continuous Learning5,
Interpersonal Engagement6, and Hardiness7. All three main competencies can be indicators of

2
Tecnológico de Monterrey has three different high school programs: First, Bicultural program which seeks to strengthen English as a
second language. Second, Multicultural program where all courses are taught in English and French or German is learned as a foreign
language. Finally, International Baccalaureate (IB) which follows its own program.
3
The number corresponds to the number of first year students, beginning of high school enrolled in August-December 2018 semester. All
High School programs must complete 48 courses in three years, which are divided in 6 semesters. Each semester, a regular student must
study eight subjects; Science, Mathematics, Humanities and Social Sciences, Foreign Language, Spanish, Computing, and Tutoring
(Equivalent to 2 subjects).
4
The average dropout number in first year students at PrepaTec is less than 5% of the whole first year population. The reasons can be
diverse: economic and financial problems, personal and familiar problems, relocation, dissatisfaction with the school, academic
performance, among others. The semester following the earthquake, 5.94% multicultural students did not enroll for its second semester in
this program. A small number of dropout students despite of the fact there were no high school facilities but just temporary.
5
How much an individual has learned about different cultures, ethnic groups and backgrounds.
6
How well an individual builds and maintains positive relationships with people from other cultures.
7
How well an individual manages stress when adapting to and working with diverse cultures and foreign environments
 The 6th International Conference on Education 2020

resilience resources since each competency can help a person to cope with adverse or distressful
events. However, there was a particular focus in Hardiness.

After applying the IES to the 239 students, each student received a personalized report according to
his or her results. The report describes the strengths and weaknesses of the student regarding
intercultural competence. Furthermore, the student could graph their results and obtain a profile.

The following table shows the results obtained from the first sampling of the IES to the 2017-2020
multicultural program. To locate the majority of the students, the highest value between the two
highest values was selected. Hence, the generation obtained Moderate 3 on Continuous Learning,
Moderate 5 on Interpersonal Engagement, and Low 2 on Hardiness.
IES Results from March 2018: Generation 2017-2020
Table 1. Initial Sampling 2017-2020 generation IES results, March 2018.
Intercultural Low Low Moderate Moderate Moderate High High Total
Competence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 number
Continuous 24 45 27 50 28 27 38 239
Learning
Interpersonal 5 34 27 57 41 50 25 239
Engagement
Hardiness 86 51 37 27 23 11 4 239

The results gave the following graph, which matches the ‘Extrovert’ profile according to the IES.
People who enjoy being with people and creating new relationships. They are less interested in
understanding differences and may find some diverse settings challenging. Individuals with this
profile are very people-focused in general and typically will have a number of social skills that help
them develop and maintain good relationships. Although they are not always motivated to seek new
experiences that can lead to understanding themselves and other things better. Sometimes, however,
their lack of resilience can make such experiences more challenging.

Figure 1. Initial sampling 2017-2020 generation results graph-Extrovert Profile

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The previous graph exemplifies the dimensions of the Multicultural Program Generation 2017-2020
after taking the IES survey. Hardiness was an opportunity area for many students of this cohort.
Teachers from different subjects frequently reported students who had episodes of anxiety, easily
frustrated or who cannot cope with stress related to tests. For this reason, the Tutoring Department of
the campus, designed strategies for fostering resilience resources: empathy, hardiness, and the
capacity to build a support network, as well as to be humble to ask for help and recognize
vulnerability.

In addition, to accompany students, academically and emotionally through their high school, the
Tutoring Department designed curricula centered on socioemotional learning (SEL), with the main
scope on resilience. There were many activities using experiential learning to help students to develop
resilience resources. Foremost among them are two projects who were notably memorable for
students. First, a discussion forum called “Resilient Roots” where students dialogued about how
different societies have faced natural disasters and the capability of living creatures to adapt to their
environments. Second, students engaged with communities facing real-world problems, such as youth
at risk, mental health, and migration.

Three years after the 2017 earthquake, students took the IES resurvey to measure their development
progress. The table below shows the results where the majority of students are located in High 6 on
Continuous Learning, High 6 on Interpersonal Engagement, and Low 2 on Hardiness.

IES Resurvey Results from March 2020: Generation 2017-2020

Table 2 Final Sampling 2017-2020 generation results, February 2020.
Intercultural Low Low Moderate Moderate Moderate High High Total
Competence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 number
Continuous 18 19 21 45 39 40 48 230
Learning
Interpersonal 9 23 23 49 39 53 34 230
Engagement
Hardiness 60 46 33 37 23 16 15 230

The results matched the ‘Explorer’ profile according to the IES. The report describes ‘explorers’
profile as who enjoy developing friendships with and learning about people who differ from them.
They are quite attentive to their social environment and quite interested in learning more about
themselves and others. However, usually less able to withstand the accompanying emotional and
psychological challenges that confrontations with differences bring; they may need “timeouts”. The
profile is exemplified with the following graph from the above results.
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Figure 2. Final sampling 2017-2020 generation results graph-Extrovert Profile

Hardiness had no significant change according to the graph; it remained in the same developing level.
Still, Interpersonal Engagement and Continuous Learning had an important movement, from medium
to high, both obtaining level 6. Next graph does a comparison between firsts results obtained on
March 2018 and the resurvey results provided on March 2020.

Figure 3. Comparative graph: 2018 and 2020 IES Results

Continuous Learning and Interpersonal Engagement were the most developed competences for the
Multicultural Program senior students of PepaTec Mexico City in 2020. According to these results,
students have strong empathy, self-knowledge and social responsibility. Their opportunity areas are
channeling emotions, positive regard and hardiness.

Students from this cohort also took the VIA Character Strengths survey designed by the University of
Pennsylvania. This survey measures 24 strengths of character organized under six virtues: wisdom,
courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence.

VIA Character Strengths survey is aligned with positive psychology purposes, it asses needed virtues
that promote individuals to develop fully to form communities with well-being (Cfr. Seligman, M. E.
 The 6th International Conference on Education 2020

P. Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). The main line of research in Positive Psychology focuses on the study of
well-being. The combination of character strengths, gratitude, resilience, and hope is the second most
investigated aspect, which has shown that hope, gratitude and identification, spirituality, together with
the use and assessment of character strengths, can predict well-being and decision-making. Another
popular research topic in Positive Psychology is performance; studies suggest that psychological
capital (hope, optimism, resilience, and self-efficacy) is positively related to performance in the
workplace (Donaldson et al., 2014).

The study of character and its strengths are a cornerstone of research topics of Positive Psychology
(McCullough & Snyder, 2000; Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2002). Strengths are defined as
“personal characteristics that allow performing well” (Wood et al., 2011, p. 15) or, as “behaviors,
thoughts, and feelings that reflect positive traits that a person naturally has and that they allow you to
enjoy things and achieve optimal functioning ” (Linley & Harrington, 2006).

For Park and Peterson (2009) having a ‘good character’ is not the absence of problems or defects but
the development of positive aspects. They underline that it is essential to increase the strengths of
adolescents and young adults and mention the importance that one day, in schools, students’ strengths
of character are evaluated to promote their development through educational programs. For Biswas-
Diener, Kashdan, and Minhas (2011), strengths are dynamic, contextual features that represent
potentials that can be cultivated with effort and awareness. They propose strengths as dynamic
concepts in constant growth.

Seligman (2005) grouped the strengths of character into 6 categories that he called virtues. The
concept “virtue or strength” refers to the skills acquired through the will and that represent positive
traits in the personality, close definition to Aristotle and Nussbaum. The Strengths Inventory (VIA) is
made up of 240 items with five answers to select. The objective of the inventory is to measure the
degree to which individuals have developed each of the 24 strengths or virtues which grouped in six
categories: Wisdom, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance, and Transcendence.

This survey was applied by the end of 2019 to the same cohort who did the IES survey and resurvey.
No relevant findings were thrown when looking for the most developed character strength or
character strength 1. Among the 24 strengths or virtues, none had more prevalence on the cohort. The
results were no homogenous and a general conclusion was not possible.

In contrast, when looking at the least developed character strength or character strength 24, 30% of
the students expressed that their less developed virtue was faith and spirituality, which is a strength
within the transcendence category. The following pie represents the distribution among student of
their character strength 24.
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Figure 4. 2019 Results of the least developed character strength on 2017-2020 multicultural program from the
VIA Character Strength Survey

According to VIA survey, transcendence include meaning, purpose, life calling, beliefs about the
universe, the expression of virtue/goodness, and practices that connect with the transcendent. Thought
sense of meaning provides a sense of being grounded, increases optimism, and helps provides a sense
of purpose for life.

One of the resilience resources lies in the importance of subjects having a sense of Faith which, not
necessarily attached to a religion, sustains existence. A person with a clear sense of meaning and
purpose in life has better chances to overcome adversity and to learn from it.

Conclusions

Resilience presents a challenge for educators. Whether a person can be said to have it or not largely
depends not entirely on any particular psychological or competence test but on the way life unfolds.
In fact, the road to resilience is likely to involve considerable emotional distress. If a person is lucky
enough to never experience any sort of adversity, there will never be any parameter of how resilient
that person is. It is only when facing obstacles, adversity, stress, and other threats that resilience, or
the absence of it, arises.

People and students are exposed to diverse adversities or threats. Some are the result of
socioeconomic status, challenging home conditions, or harsh life situations. Other threats are acute:
experiencing or witnessing a traumatic violent encounter, for example, or being in an accident.
Nevertheless, the latter can be significant experiences to develop resilience resources. Such as
hardiness, solidarity, empathy, self-knowledge, among others.

Resilience has become a popular term with risk to turn into a vague or even hollow concept. However,
resilience does not have to be a concept. In fact, decades of research have revealed a lot about how it
works. This research shows that resilience is, ultimately, a set of skills and attitudes that can be taught
and develop in young people. In recent years, the term has been used sloppily –but this sloppy usage
is taken to using the term sloppily—but this sloppy usage does not mean that it has been usefully and
 The 6th International Conference on Education 2020

precisely defined. Especially, if it is considered from the scope of capabilities and its development,
according to Martha Nussbaum.

Socio-emotional learning is uneasy to grasp to its difficulty for evaluating. Since it can only be
apprised from performative situations, and some of them cannot be, and should not be replicative in
an academic context. Such as testing resilience facing traumatic events. Still, resilience resources can
be taught and learned, so when an adverse event occurs, a person can rely on a proper socio-emotional
toolkit.

Acknowledgements

This study is a small homage to Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Mexico City community who
overcame the 2017 Earthquake; Tec de Monterrey is more than its building, it is its people.
Particularly to the Teacher-Tutors who accompanied our students during and after that challenging
event. This study could not be done without the confidence of Mexico City PrepaTec and the support
of Writing Labs.

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