Psychological Safety survey release

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New Psychological Safety surveys

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Psychological Safety is a measure of how safe and confident students feel within the school environment.

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Do they feel supported by teachers and their peers, are they comfortable asking questions, making mistakes and contributing within the classroom, and do they feel a sense of belonging?

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Psychological safety contributes to the building of trust and communication, and creates a sense of belonging in a school community. Success in the school environment - whether it be in academics, social relationships or emotional intelligence - relies on the broaden-and-build model of positive psychology. That is:

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• When students feel psychologically safe, the threat system in their brain is regulated and they are able to remain in the “learning zone” where creativity and productivity thrive
• On the contrary, if a student is humiliated for asking a question or making a mistake, the brain interprets this as a threat which results in student behaviour being driven from the emotional centre of the brain. We then see students struggling to access the reasoning part of their brain, followed by a consequential disengagement in learning.

What is this product feature?

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Psychological safety is our first benchmark-style survey. It’s different to the regular, monitoring-style surveys we are currently used to. It can be deployed between 1 to 4 times per school year and captures information regarding the psychological safety of the entire student body within the school. 

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Psychological safety is not a measure of the individual student and their wellbeing, it is a measure for the school to gauge in order to set targets and improve the school environment for all of their students.

Why did we introduce Psychological Safety Surveys?

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Psychological safety exists, to some extent, in the workplace environment. However, there is little to no use of it or mention of it in the education space. It’s a valuable theme to analyse as it measures student sense of belonging and other key aspects that are important for students entering an environment where the aim is to learn, grow and thrive, which can often be influenced by or disrupted by various factors within that environment.

We wanted to enable schools to start focusing on this theme and measuring it to improve given its importance and the value it can unlock.

Want to learn how to promote, measure and intervene to make your school psychologically safe for every student?

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Read this article!

Want to start measuring right away? Reach out to our team, and ensure you are prioritising Psychological Safety at your school.

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Talk to our team!

_{This article was last reviewed and updated August 2024}