One of my favorite professors in college was anthropologist Evelyn Kessler. What made her classes so enjoyable is that she allowed us to argue with her. I recall one discussion about why in hunter/gatherer societies, men did all the hunting. She took a feminist view, but she had no problem if students didn’t buy her position. Kessler worked at creating a psychologically safe climate in the classroom where students were able to explore and debate ideas with her and each other. I found the discussions so valuable, I took a second class from her.
Psychological Safety Is the Opposite of Safe Spaces
Psychological safety means that people feel safe to be who they are and express themselves without being attacked or criticized. In a psychologically safe classroom, students can disagree with one another and with the professor knowing that their opinions are respected and valued. Others might critique their idea, making the case for why it is wrong and another position is correct, but they won’t be personally attacked. Everyone has the right to a position, even if others consider it wrong.
Psychological safety is the opposite of safe spaces where students never hear any views that they find uncomfortable. In such a climate, certain positions become taboo because of the risk someone is made uncomfortable. Rather than feeling psychologically safe, students feel that if they say the wrong thing, they will be attacked. This is the case on many campuses today where surveys show that students are reluctant to express their views because they fear retribution from others. Too many students do not feel psychologically safe to disagree.
Critical Thinking Through Debate and Discussion
One thing we should demand of college is that it teaches critical thinking. Graduates need to be able to evaluate arguments, find evidence to refute or support, and use information to make informed decisions. Considering different sides of an issue and debating the merits of different points of view are important activities for the college classroom. The classroom should be a place where it is safe to explore ideas without students feeling they need to self-censor. Students should be allowed to question authority and the assumptions underlying conventional wisdom and orthodoxy. They should appreciate one-another’s points of view, and welcome opportunities to have disagreements with friends. This is where critical thinking is learned. To best counter an argument, you need to understand it, and the best place for that is college.
Creating a Psychologically Safe Climate in the Classroom
It is the responsibility of faculty to create a psychologically safe climate. This can be built into a class in several ways:
- Classroom Debates: Create teams of students each of which is assigned a different side of an issue, and have them debate in class. It can feel less threatening to debate a position that is assigned because it isn’t yours.
- Assign Positions to Write about: Students can be given a position to argue for or against in writing. This can be as a paragraph or a full essay.
- Set the Ground Rules: The professor should make it clear at the outset that personal attacks are off limits. Students can attack ideas but not one another. And critiques of ideas need to have substance. Saying an idea is stupid not not sufficient. The student has to explain the weaknesses in the idea, for example, why it is unlikely to be effective.
- Keeping Order: Climates are created by encouraging desired behavior and correcting undesired behavior. The professor is a facilitator who encourages discussion, but corrects students who might go over the line in making an ad hominem remark.
- Model Respectful Dialogue: Professors should model the behavior that they want in class by being respectful in commenting on student positions, and by reacting positively when students challenge them. Humor can go a long way to making students feel comfortable.
Friends have been telling me lately that it can be tough to get students to discuss issues in class. Faculty should increase student classroom engagement by creating a psychologically safe climate in the classroom.
Image generated by DALL-E 4.0. Prompt: “College classroom with two podiums where students are debating”
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We need more classes run this way. –Irvin
Creating a psychologically safe classroom is key to fostering open communication, creativity, and confidence in students. Nice article.
I recall being in a psychology class where we had an open discussion on a sensitive subject. One of the students disagreed with the majority and spoke up. They were then personally attacked until the professor finally interjected. I respect the student for speaking up, especially after hearing the opposite opinions beforehand. I find that the environment had gotten chaotic and if we had established similar guidelines like in this article, we could have had a conversation with more value and depth.
Thank you for sharing!