Psychological Safety in Classrooms: Why Feeling Safe Matters for Student Learning

Psychological safety refers to the feeling of being safe enough to take part in interactions without fear of ridicule, embarrassment, or judgement

Ever been in a classroom where the fear of judgement makes it difficult to speak out your opinion freely? One reason people may feel unable to express themselves and their thoughts in a classroom is that they perceive the space as psychologically unsafe.

So, what is psychological safety?

Psychological safety refers to the feeling of being safe enough to take part in interactions without fear of ridicule, embarrassment, or judgement. It allows a person to behave as they choose and to utilize their agency. Being in spaces that individuals perceive as unsafe may prevent them from engaging in activities or behaviors that would allow for personal development. Feeling psychologically unsafe can result in individuals not engaging in behaviors because they perceive the costs of engaging in that activity or behavior as posing too great a threat to their psychological safety. In this case, the perceived costs of the interaction outweigh the benefits. Even if the interaction could be beneficial, the perception of feeling embarrassed or losing a part of one’s identity may be far too threatening to engage (Wanless, 2016).

Feeling psychologically safe does not look the same for everyone, as it is not a universal benchmark across individuals. Different people may perceive the exact same context or situation as having varying levels of risk, leading to differing needs for psychological safety. As such, individual characteristics play a key role in determining how much risk is perceived and how much psychological safety is required. These characteristics may include personal attributes such as personality, race, and gender, or prior life experiences such as early childhood attachment. The interplay between personal characteristics and environmental support results in psychological safety (Wanless, 2016).

Why does this matter in the classroom?
This matters in the classroom because everyone deserves to feel safe in every environment they are in. While it may be difficult to control how psychologically safe one feels in everyday environments—such as going to a market or a public gym—a classroom is a closed setting where a sense of safety can be intentionally created. While feeling safe has intrinsic value in itself, it also serves an important purpose within classroom settings. Beyond individual well-being, classrooms are spaces meant to foster both personal and intellectual growth.

Feeling psychologically unsafe in a classroom defeats the very purpose of being in one. A sense of unsafety may result in negative emotions such as anxiety and fear, which can hinder learning, as emotions influence learning processes. As stated by Albisetti (2017), “Emotions vehicle learning processes.” Emotional states moderate every aspect of cognition, including attention, memory, learning, problem-solving, and reasoning.

Feeling safe is especially important in recent times, given the increased emphasis on teamwork and collaboration in classrooms, where students are expected to be actively and creatively involved in the learning process. This shift reflects the growing demand for teamwork skills in the workforce (Gonda et al., 2024). Psychological safety enables individuals to actively engage in interactions they find meaningful and beneficial for development, even when these involve discomfort from stepping outside one’s comfort zone (Wanless, 2016). This, in turn, supports the development of teamwork skills.

Additionally, school engagement is critical for sustaining students’ interest in learning and achievement. This concept has been proposed as a solution to low student achievement, poor academic performance, and high dropout rates. School engagement can be defined through three factors: behavioral, emotional, and cognitive. The emotional component refers to a student’s emotional state in the classroom, such as feeling sad, bored, happy, or anxious. Emotional engagement may also be understood as a sense of belonging to and feeling valued within schooling. Engagement is shaped by multiple contexts and is malleable (Fredricks et al., 2004). This suggests that providing emotional safety can enhance students’ interest in and engagement with school.

If a student does not feel psychologically safe, they may be reluctant to approach the facilitator to clarify doubts, as doing so may be perceived as too great an interpersonal risk (Wanless, 2016). This reluctance can hinder learning. Even if the facilitator excels at teaching concepts and guiding the classroom, learning will remain partial and incomplete because interactions become one-sided. The student’s negative emotional state further inhibits effective learning. Learning becomes possible only when students feel safe enough to share their thoughts, clarify doubts, and experience positive emotions within the classroom.

How can we promote psychological safety within classrooms?
According to a study by McClintock, Fainstad, and Jauregui (2021), students identified several factors that contributed to classrooms feeling psychologically safe. These included clear expectations, a sense of self-efficacy, consistent feedback systems, autonomy, and team engagement. Conversely, facilitators’ disinterest in students’ growth hindered feelings of safety. This disinterest manifested through dismissing student questions, restricting autonomy, or maintaining unclear expectations.

Additionally, students reported being unable to recall instances where classrooms successfully restored a sense of safety once it had been lost. This underscores the importance of creating a safe classroom environment from the outset and taking deliberate steps to maintain it. The study also highlighted that facilitators’ responses to student errors played a crucial role in determining whether a classroom was perceived as safe.

Psychological safety can be fostered through active facilitator involvement. Reassuring students of approachability, implementing feedback systems, showing genuine interest in students’ development and opinions, and allowing student autonomy all contribute to a safe classroom environment. Regulating discussions and encouraging students to recognize their role in maintaining safety are equally important. Facilitators can also promote inclusion and strengthen students’ sense of belonging.

In conclusion, feeling safe in a classroom is fundamental to learning and development. Beyond its intrinsic importance, psychological safety is essential for effective learning due to the role of positive academic emotions in cognitive processes. This safe environment must be intentionally created and maintained by both facilitators and students from the beginning, as restoring safety once lost can be difficult. Psychological safety can be cultivated through facilitators demonstrating genuine interest in students’ learning and progress, and by encouraging students to support and respect one another.

Authors: Rhea Srivastava, Undergraduate Student, FLAME University and Prof. Moitrayee Das, Faculty of Psychology, FLAME University.