Step 2: Creating Psychological Safety

Inclusive instructors create learning environments where students feel safe, valued, and respected, which in turn fosters the conditions necessary for all students to take the risks that are necessary for learning. By establishing a shared sense of mission, acknowledging student contributions, and intentionally using inclusive language, Bob Kegan cultivates just such an environment. “[Every student] has certain questions that they may not even be aware that they're asking themselves,” he explains. “Am I going to be psychologically safe here? Is my dignity going to be respected, and so on? I think that's a question you have to keep in mind and continuously address.”

Profiled: Robert Kegan, William and Miriam Meehan Research Professor in Adult Learning and Professional Development, teaches "Adult Development" to ~200 students at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Takeaway Tips

Use inclusive language and model inclusive practices. Course content, teaching methods, and class norms must be intentionally inclusive of differences in gender, race, sexual orientation, disability status, and other dimensions of identity. Consider how issues of identity, power, and privilege surface in your content and in the classroom environment.

Seek to eliminate unnecessary distance between yourself and your students. Students can feel more comfortable when they see their instructor as human—someone who is learning alongside them and is invested in building meaningful relationships with them.

Publicly acknowledge students’ contributions to the classroom discourse. Doing so can help students feel that they are part of a community and increase their sense of belonging.

Related Resources

The Center for Teaching and Learning at Columbia has compiled tips to help instructors “establish and support a class climate that fosters belonging for all students.”

This book chapter highlights how instructors can use Universal Design for Learning alongside inclusive pedagogy to foster a sense of belonging in all students. 

The Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation at Carnegie Mellon recommends a number of strategies for Modeling Inclusive Language. 

This tip sheet from Cornell’s Center for Teaching Innovation helps with “Building Community and Belonging” in your classroom. 

Reflection Questions

Think about the examples and language that you use in your classroom. How can you make them more inclusive for students with different backgrounds? 

How do you build trust with your students? What more can you do to show them they can count on you?

How do you create psychological safety while also pushing people out of their comfort zone to help them learn new things?

Inclusive instructors build relationships because students are more invested in their learning when they know that you are invested in them. In the next video, we’ll examine another way to support all students’ learning: setting norms.

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