Fearless Schools: Building Trust, Resilience, and Psychological Safety

by Douglas Reeves

When a student has a weapon, they must be disarme...

In fact, when students are disengaged from classwork and sent down the hallway, it is not a punishment at all, it is a reward.

if the punishment includes verbal humiliation and thinly veiled physical threats, the only certain result is one more child who hates school and everyone in it.

Teachers need to be able to deal with disrespect and unfinished work in the classroom,

If their behavior is obnoxious and unpleasant, then confront it, model and reward better alternatives, and improve the individual and collective performance of the group.

Perfection is not required, but absolute integrity requires the prohibition of the passive voice in dealing with error.

It is never “mistakes were made”; rather, it is “I was wrong and accept complete responsibility for this mistake.” This sort of personal accountability is so rare in American leadership.

Perhaps it is because leaders attained their lofty positions due to the presumption of invulnerability and, having been elevated to a leadership position, are now unab...

A lie—especially a deliberate lie—threatens their credibility in all things great and small.

Their rationalizations run the gamut from desiring to help others in need to unrealistic parental expectations.

the real root of the rationalizations is that “everybody does it”—including adults in leadership positions.

While there are increasingly sophisticated efforts to catch cheaters and plagiarizers, technology is not the antidote ...

That is a leadership issue, not a tech...

Trust is destroyed with every bit of information that sugarcoats reality.

Leaders destroy trust with punishment, whether physical, psychic, or interpersonal.

In matters large and small, leaders must represent absolute integrity in order to have the support of students, staff, and stakeholders when the going is tough.

Of all the gifts that we give to our students and colleagues, resilience is the one that will last a lifetime and be there when they need it most.

Resilience involves both physical and mental capacities—strength, endurance, and perseverance.

First, set small goals.

a goal might be the ability to wiggle one’s toes.

The second key to resilience is structure. Not only do those recovering from physical injury require structure, but so do those dealing with psychological challenges.

Third, resilience requires the anticipation of setbacks. Athletes trip, addicts relapse, teachers who vowed never to raise their voice lose their temper.

The fourth and most difficult part of resilience is accountability.

I found that modern reading-level analytical tools suggest that what was expected of third-graders in the 19th century is regarded as ninth-grade reading level in the 21st century

The fifth element of physical resilience is celebrating accomplishments.

These five elements of bouncing back from physical and psychic injury—small goals, structure, anticipating setbacks, accountability, and celebration—are essential whether one is crawling back from an injury or conquering a crippling depression, running a marathon or breaking through writer’s block,

The scientific literature shows that the impact of fatigue on work-related accidents, depression, sleep disorders, and mental illness is consistent and profound

Stress, anxiety, and depression can also be associated with fatigue, and a mental health care provider can conduct appropriate assessment and treatment for these conditions.

Frequent breaks are not a sign of laziness but of a thoughtfully designed way to approach the mental and physical restoration we all need.

American workers need far more breaks than they are getting.

Indeed, fatigue and exhaustion are highly communicable throughout every school.

From students and colleagues, there is chronic fear of criticism, fear of failing to meet their expectations, and fear of failing to help as much as needed or in the precise way that was necessary.

How, then, do we bounce back from fear?

The answer lies not in pop psychology and well-intentioned encouragement, but in science.

research suggests that we can train our brains to moderate the fight-or-flight response and channel our energies more productively.

facing things that scare us, along with a clear ethical code that guides decisions, can deflect the automatic resort to fear-based decisions.

physical exercise and mindfulness meditation are associated with improved levels of resilience and moderated responses to fear

Evidence from medical researchers (Johnson, 2020) suggest three ways...

First, it is important to connect with other people, forming healthy relationships with f...

Rather, you are seeking connections because you are genuinely interested in other people, their causes, passions, and beliefs.

Second, self-care is essential. In education, we tend to valorize the heroic teachers and leaders who burn themselves to a cinder in the service of their students.

heroism and the fatigue that inevitably follows repeated extraordinary exertion are not sustainable strategies, and the burned-out teacher and leader cannot help...

Self-care includes not only nutrition, exercise, and enjoyment but also judiciously turning off phones and other electronic connections in order to have uninterr...

Third, regular progress toward meaningful goals is strongly linked to positive intrapersonal and ...

Small daily wins, the page of the manuscript, the single conversation with a colleague, the kind and unexpected gesture for a friend—these are the small things that create large quantities of resilience.

people are resilient, bouncing back from physical and psychic injuries, illness, fatigue, and fear.

The relationships, challenges, love, and support of others are keys to resilience from all the setbacks that life gives us.

The reason physical resilience and emotional resilience are so intertwined is that the damage from continued stress, anxiety, and depression takes a physical toll.

While people in helping professions—such as education, social work, and medical care—sometimes like to claim that they can just compartmentalize their lives and work through the stress associated with their jobs, the reports from nurses, teachers, physicians, and educational leaders suggest an entirely different reality.

Mayo Clinic confirms that stress is related to headaches, muscle tension or pain, chest pain, fatigue, change in sex drive...