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Students' psychological safety |
- Psychological safety can foster creativity, innovation, and collaboration among students, as they feel comfortable to share their ideas, voice their opinions, ask questions, admit errors, and seek help.
- Psychological safety can also promote a growth mindset, which is the belief that one can improve one’s intelligence and talents through effort and learning. A growth mindset can help students overcome failures and setbacks, and see them as opportunities to grow and learn. (Grow Your Grit)
- Grit can help students pursue their interests and passions, and align them with a higher purpose. This can increase their engagement and satisfaction with their learning, and help them stay motivated and focused, even when the work is hard or boring.
- Grit can also help students practice, practice, practice. By working hard to improve their skills and abilities, and setting specific, challenging, and attainable goals, students can enhance their competence and confidence, and achieve their desired outcomes.
However, psychological safety and grit are not mutually
exclusive, but rather complementary and interdependent. In other words,
psychological safety and grit can influence and reinforce each other, in
a positive feedback loop. For example:
Psychological safety can help students grow their grit, as they are not
afraid to take risks, face challenges, and overcome failures. When
students feel psychologically safe, they are more likely to pursue their
curiosity and passion, practice and improve their performance, and
surround themselves with gritty people who can inspire, support, and
challenge them.
Grit can help students contribute to
psychological safety, as they are committed to their goals, resilient to
difficulties, and supportive of their teammates. When students are
gritty, they are more likely to create a climate of trust, respect, and
openness, where they can express themselves freely, without fear of
negative consequences.
Therefore, psychological safety and
grit are both essential for students’ success and well-being, and they
can be cultivated and strengthened over time. Some of the strategies
that educators, learners, and parents can use to foster psychological
safety and grit in students are:
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Provide clarity. Set clear expectations and goals for students, and explain the purpose and relevance of their learning. Use the Wonder-wall approach to learning, which empowers students to have a clear focus on what they are learning, why they are learning it, and how they will learn it.
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Build self-awareness. Encourage students to be reflective and self-aware of their own learning process. Use the traffic light reflection and the Rock, Paper, Scissors reflection to help them identify their strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement.
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Cultivate a growth mindset. Teach students that they can improve their intelligence and talents through effort and learning. Praise their progress and effort, not their innate abilities. Help them see failures and setbacks as opportunities to grow and learn.
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Create a respectful and supportive culture. Establish a shared sense of mission and values with students, and co-create class agreements around behaviors and norms. Acknowledge and appreciate students’ contributions, and use inclusive language when giving examples or feedback.
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Encourage risk-taking and experimentation. Create a safe space for students to share their ideas, voice their opinions, ask questions, admit errors, and seek help. Reward their curiosity and initiative, and avoid judgment or punishment. Use self-deprecating humor or talk to students individually outside of class to restore psychological safety if it is violated.
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Promote collaboration and feedback. Provide opportunities for students to work in teams, and assign them roles and responsibilities. Teach them how to give and receive constructive feedback, and model it yourself. Surround them with gritty people who can inspire, support, and challenge them.
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Find something that interests and aligns with their purpose. Pursue their curiosity and passion, and connect their learning to a bigger cause or vision.
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Practice, practice, practice. Work hard to improve their skills and abilities, and set specific, challenging, and attainable goals for themselves. Seek feedback and guidance from others, and learn from their mistakes.
