Creating a Psychologically Safe Learning Environment

This article was originally published in the Training and Development Magazine of the Australian Institute of Training and Development's September 2023 issue.

Research is well established now that Psychological Safety is imperative for high performing teams. Do these benefits translate to a classroom though?

A training opportunity attracts a diversity of learners, learning preferences and career trajectories. Learning, therefore, brings with it a level of vulnerability and uncertainty.

Learning is about letting down one’s guard and accepting some ignorance. It’s also about curiosity, testing ideas and making mistakes on way to practicing new skills and knowledge. If learning requires learners to stay open, listen keenly and share bravely, then psychological safety is an inseparable part of being in a classroom, or any other learning environment.

In fact, within a learning context, the definition of psychological safety makes even better sense. As Amy Edmondson, who coined the term, puts it eloquently as this.

“Team Psychological Safety is a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes, and the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking. Psychological safety is felt permission for candour”.?        

Look back to your own learning experience, and consider what lack of safety felt like?

For example, you asked a question, and the facilitator took on a patronising tone. Or your softly spoken input got lost in someone’s louder perspective. Worse still, no one noticed or supported you to get back into the conversation. These micro-moments of embarrassment and rejection can hurt and create lack of safety for learners.

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In addition, learners bring in significant kinds of diversity that needs inclusion. Having underrepresented learners in the room means making sure the training reflects learner diversity. Be it accessibility, examples, visuals, activities and stories. Without inclusive design, content and facilitation, many learners can feel excluded, invisible and devalued.

If learners can’t participate without experiencing judgement (unwitting or outright), you get silence not participation. Lack of safety diminishes learner enthusiasm and lowers curiosity to uncover what needs to be practiced and learned.

A learning environment also reflects the workplace at large. This is relevant given worker diversity is expanding like never before. Consider a highly mobile and diversified workforce that may represent different gender identities, disabilities, neurodiversity, generations, cultures, race and LGBTQ+ members, to name a few. While diversity can make a workplace more dynamic and enriching, it also makes it more challenging.

Here are six ways for Learning and Development professionals to consider a diversity of learners and create psychologically safe learning environments.

Acknowledge learner diversity

A useful way to offer visibility to a diversity of learners is to acknowledge their presence. This means beginning the day with welcoming diversity. This can look like acknowledgement of country, which is a wonderful way to set the tone on inclusivity. It can also help to highlight how the room might have visible diversity, and some invisible differences, and it’s exciting to learn from each other. Inviting participants to share any preferred pronouns is another useful and simple way to set the tone. All of this can make people notice their fellow learners in a new light. It also attracts attention to who else is at the table and get mindful about differences. Acknowledgement and amplification is a powerful way to legitimise and elevate differences. This positions learner diversity as an asset in the room and not an impediment that must be cautiously navigated.?

Lean into inclusive communication

Inclusive communication plays a vital role in establishing psychological safety. Training professionals can encourage candour and openness through inviting dialogue, listening deeply and managing interruptions. This elicits better questions, brings out any concerns and allows learners a safe space for sharing. Another powerful way to communicate inclusively is to replace judgement with curiosity. This means, asking questions instead of making assumptions and statements. When in doubt, admitting to any lack of awareness helps learners to have the permission to do the same. Which means, instead of pretending to be smart, everyone can lean into being smart together. Or learning to fail in a safe environment that encourages experimentation and improvement. This unblocks learning and makes room for new awareness to grow and develop.

Stay mindful of inclusive language

Language matters because it evokes an emotional response. In fact, seemingly safe language can still leave learners out and create unanticipated exclusion. For example, the use of pronouns he/she may seem inconsequential. Though repeated use of binary language can leave out those who identify as non-binary or gender queer. A simple switch to ‘they’ can include everyone. Inclusive language also extends to person-first language that allows learners to decide how they want to identify in the room. Getting people’s names right and saying them correctly is one more aspect of learner safety. Inclusive language acknowledges and welcomes individual diversity instead of challenging or ignoring it. This helps to highlight diversity instead of spotlight it in a way that makes it unsafe for some learners.

Recognise and interrupt biases

Bias can be invisible swift and insidious. By consciously interrupting bias and stereotypes, facilitators create a safe space where all learners can belong. This could mean not overlooking the quieter people in the classroom. Or intentionally seating people in a way that creates opportunities to learn from each other. Bias can also take the form of labels, insensitive remarks, poor jokes and deliberate non-cooperation in a learning context. Staying alert and coaching people privately for any poor behaviour and language helps safeguard the learning environment. Without that, learners are left to their devices to negotiate safety. When bias shows up, interrupting it respectfully amplifies both learner safety and inclusion.

?Encourage and role model respect

Without trust and respect, it’s incredibly hard to create a psychologically safe environment. Respect can be lost in small moments of neglect and indifference that can get missed. For example, when a learner is contradicted by another and left to feel wrong or publicly embarrassed. A crucial context for facilitating respect is during disagreements. Differing points of view can enrich learning, as long as respect stays central. Respect also shows up in saying someone’s name correctly and addressing them by their preferred name and pronunciation. A pivotal role of learning professionals is to inclusively manage participation, so everyone can feel visible, safe and heard. Respectful interaction inspires confidence to willingly participate and contribute to mutual learning.

Offer feedback that builds confidence

Effective and safe feedback is about making something better, not breaking someone down. Consider asking for consent before offering feedback, focusing on specifics, sharing impact, pausing for a response and seeking commitment to change. This is important because mistakes will be made when learning. This generates confidence and reassurance that support is available, instead of blame or criticism. In a psychologically safe learning environment, mistakes are meant to encourage growth. By actively celebrating the effort to learn, listen and sit in the discomfort of new information, safety begins to take hold. This means learners can take more risks and explore new ideas with greater confidence and less defensiveness.

Creating psychologically safe learning environments is essential for including and supporting learners. When learners don’t have to worry about looking foolish or feeling insignificant, it opens doors to deeper learning and commitment. Safe learning spaces elicit creativity, critical thinking and emotional confidence.

Sonali D’silva is a Certified Professional in Inclusive Leadership from Catalyst Inc. She is the Founder of Equality Consulting, a training and advisory service for raising diversity awareness, leading with inclusion, and creating psychological safety at work. Visit her website at www.equalityconsulting.com.au to know more about her work.