Learner Safety satisfies the basic human need to learn and grow. It allows us to feel safe as we engage in all aspects of the learning process—asking questions, giving and receiving feedback, experimenting, and even making mistakes, not if but when we make them.
When we sense leaner safety, we’re more willing to be vulnerable, take risks, and develop resilience in the learning process.
Conversely, a lack of learner safety triggers the self-censoring instinct, causing us to shut down, retrench and manage personal risk.
Learning involves risk. One of the most important things that you can do to build learner safety is to create a culture where you detach fear from mistakes.
When you give your teams learner safety, you’re giving them permission to overcome setbacks and find solutions without fear of failure. And really, at the end of the day, isn’t failure just progress?
If we’ve learned anything about learning, it’s that we learn in context, not in isolation. It’s the interplay of the head and the heart. We can either cultivate or crush, nurture or neglect, stimulate or stifle learner safety.
Explore content and resources related to each of The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety™