Fearless Schools: Building Trust, Resilience, and Psychological Safety

by Douglas Reeves

If you are not safe, you cannot learn. Students cannot, teachers cannot, and entire systems cannot engage in the learning that is at the heart of our mission as educators. Psychological safety, and the resilience that accompanies it, are prerequisites for learning (Edmondson, 2018).

The most important job of the teacher—more important than mastering curriculum, assessment, pedagogy, and technology—is to have a fearless classroom in which students can learn without fear.

Leaders and policymakers also have the obligation to create psychologically safe environments for teachers and administrators.

When board of education meetings feature and televise the most vicious attacks on staff members and their families, we should not be surprised that a growing number of teachers and administrators are leaving the profession.

An essential part of rebuilding psychological safety in schools is letting teachers know that—as a matter of evidence, not inspirational rhetoric—they made the difference for their students.

trust not only improves the morale and confidence of students and staff members but also how high-trust organizations have better performance on every measure. This is a global phenomenon, with similar advantages to trust occurring in a wide variety of cultures, languages, and nations.

While leaders will be forgiven for many mistakes if they have credibility, none of their skills in analysis, communication, or planning will matter if they have failed to establish credibility

Trust and psychological safety are better predictors of performance of teams than educational backgrounds and personality types, the criteria often used to select and promote employees.

trust is essential for learning at every level, from the individual student to the faculty, leadership team, and governing board.

The fearless school has four clear advantages over schools where fear and silence are the rule of the day. These advantages include learning, morale, impact, and innovation.

respectful but difficult discussions are part of the environment, because divergent thinking and a consideration of alternative points of view are keys to learning for adults and students.

viewed from an intellectual standpoint, curiosity is a valued trait;

the reason that trust is vital to learning is that in order to learn, we must ask questions; we must try and fail. And in order to ask questions, try, and fail, we must have confidence that our curiosity won’t kill us or, even worse, disappoint our parents.

high levels of trust are associated with significant gains in problem-solving, teamwork, and employee satisfaction, all of which lead to a significantly positive impact on organizational performance (Edmondson, 2018). Moreover, high-trust organizations perform significantly better than their peers in employee satisfaction and a wide range of financial indicators

Individual performance is also strongly related to trust in leaders and organizations

When employees only hear the announcements of changes without understanding the rationale behind these changes—emotional distance, distrust, and paralysis can follow. This is true not only of large-scale changes, such as reorganizations, but also of seemingly small changes, such as the relocation of desks or offices. Change is associated with fear, and fear breeds distrust.

Oxford University researchers have concluded that trust and innovation are inseparable

Without trust, innovation is not possible.

The granting of trust is a voluntary decision and can...

It depends on four traits: competence, reliability, benevole...

The supremely competent person, for example, may be inconsistent, and therefore lack reliability.

Or

perhaps they have these traits but lack empathy, the k...

Even with these thre...

integrity remains the cornerstone of trust—for without it, trust is impossible, and without trust...

Innovation requir...

people will never take risks in an environment t...

high levels of morale, in turn, lead to greater degrees of trust.

When it comes to organizational health, it all starts and ends with trust.

Fearless schools and fearless educational systems are not built on the illusion of perfection but on the firm foundation of facts.

Profoundly important physiological and chemical changes in the human body are associated with high and low levels of trust.

Trust is not the sole responsibility of the leader; it is a reflection of collegial interactions.

Trust pervades almost every aspect of human social life. It plays a decisive role in families, organizations, markets, and the political sphere. Without trust, families fall apart, organizations are inefficient, market transactions are costly, and political leaders lack public support.

trust is not merely a psychological issue, but a physiological one as well.

Researchers can monitor levels of oxytocin, a powerful hormone that influences behavior and relationships, and how oxytocin measurements change depending on how individuals grant trust and receive trust from others.

Oxytocin is as close as we have to a naturally occurr...

People with higher levels of this hormone, prompted by increased levels of trust, have greater productivity, fewer sick days, greater engagement at work, greater satisfac...

fear reduced trust and risk-taking, both essential qualities for creativity, innovation, and organizational success.

fear induced in these experiments directly affected the amygdala, the part of the brain associated with the fight, flight, or freeze response

While some people are capable of camouflaging fear, no one is capable of avoiding it.

First, we must recognize excellence.

one of the best employee benefits for A+ players is the opportunity to work with other A+ players,

one of the most demotivating leadership practices is the toleration of mediocrity.

Recognition need not always be in the form of bonuses and promotions but can also come in the form of feedback that is...

Challenging, but achievable, tasks boost not only oxytocin but also adrenocorticotropin, another chemical linked to ...

These chemical reactions happen when both great victories and incremental...

the principle of daily progress, the small wins that are the building block...

This is not a prescription for anarchy;

it is the path toward the agency and self-determination that people crave.

One study (Feintzeig, 2014) suggested that people would give up a 20% raise in order to secure more autonomy on the job. This is consistent with the findings in schools by University of Pennsylvania researcher Richard...