Category: Developing a strategy

Positionality statement

As a learning designer focused on online teaching and learning, I approach this action research project from both a professional and deeply personal perspective. My own experiences with feeling unsafe to share (as both a member of staff and a student) in educational spaces have influenced my understanding of psychological safety. This personal insight is balanced with my professional role in designing inclusive and engaging learning experiences for others.

My cultural background has heightened my awareness of how the ‘mainstream’ represents just one of many valid perspectives. While I acknowledge my privilege in speaking English – the language of the dominant culture – this intersection of belonging and difference has made me particularly attuned to the complexities of creating truly inclusive learning spaces.

The philosophy inherent in this quote by Dieter Ram: “Indifference towards people and the reality in which they live is actually the one and only cardinal sin in design” resonates deeply with my position as a learning designer, where my role is not just to create educational experiences, but to actively combat indifference by understanding and responding to the diverse realities of learners’ experiences.

Having such a positionality both benefits and challenges my research. While my personal experiences with feeling unsafe to share inform my sensitivity to these issues, I must remain mindful that my current role as a learning designer and my ability to navigate dominant cultural spaces might make me less likely to see other perspectives. This awareness shapes my approach to the research, particularly in how I engage with participants and interpret their experiences of psychological safety in online arts education.

My intervention project for the IP unit explores my feelings around being made to feel that I should be ‘fitting in’ to spaces, be it professional or personal. You can read more here: The ‘perfect fit’ – embracing authentic identities in online environments.

3. Literature review

The existing literature clearly establishes what psychological safety is and its importance in learning (Newman et al, 2017).

The concept of psychological safety, first introduced by Edmondson (1999), describes an environment where individuals feel safe to take interpersonal risks, speak up, and share ideas without fear of negative consequences. While Edmondson’s work focused on workplace teams, the concept has evolved significantly, particularly in educational contexts where risk-taking, failure and vulnerability are inherent to the learning process.

Recent research has expanded our understanding of psychological safety in online educational environments. In design thinking education, researchers have found that establishing psychological safety requires specific strategies tailored to virtual spaces (Hanshaw and Hanshaw, 2023). This work demonstrates how traditional concepts of psychological safety must be adapted for online learning environments where physical cues and immediate feedback are limited.

The importance of psychological safety in online learning is further emphasised in medical education research, where studies show its crucial role in student engagement during synchronous learning (McLeod and Gupta, 2023). This research reveals how psychological safety influences students’ willingness to participate actively in online discussions and collaborative activities. Similarly, studies of interdisciplinary student teams highlight the critical role of instructors in fostering psychological safety, particularly in knowledge sharing and problem-solving contexts (Robinson and Held, 2024).

Healthcare professional studies provide valuable insights into the relationship between psychological safety and voice behaviour (O’Donovan, De Brún and McAuliffe, 2021), while research on graduate-level online courses demonstrates direct links between psychological safety and academic performance (Hanshaw and Hanshaw, 2023). These findings collectively suggest that psychological safety is not merely a desirable condition but a fundamental requirement for effective learning outcomes.

However, despite this growing body of research, a significant gap exists in understanding psychological safety within arts education, particularly in online environments where students must share creative work. While existing studies have examined psychological safety from instructional and performance perspectives, there remains limited understanding of how students experience psychological safety as a phenomenon emerging from course design decisions. This gap is particularly noteworthy in creative disciplines where sharing work involves unique vulnerabilities and risks. This is the gap I wish to explore as part of my action research project.

To address this gap, my action research project adopts a phenomenological approach, examining how students experience psychological safety specifically within an online arts education. This methodology allows for deep exploration of the lived experiences of students, particularly focusing on the tension between ‘eager’ and ‘expected’ sharing behaviours as outcomes of course design choices.

References

Hanshaw, G. and Hanshaw, J. (2023) ‘The effect of psychological safety on the performance of students in graduate-level online courses’, International Journal of Innovative Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 4(1), pp. 1–21. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4018/ijitlhe.333864.

McLeod, E. and Gupta, S. (2023) ‘The role of psychological safety in enhancing medical students’ engagement in online synchronous learning’, Medical Science Educator, 33, pp. 423–430. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-023-01753-8.

Newman, A., Donohue, R. and Eva, N. (2017). ‘Psychological safety: A systematic review of the literature.’ Human resource management review, 27(3), pp.521-535.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2017.01.001

O’Donovan, R., De Brún, A. and McAuliffe, E. (2021) ‘Healthcare professionals’ experience of psychological safety, voice, and silence’, Frontiers in Psychology, 12(12). Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.626689.

Robinson, H. and Held, F. (2024) ‘Psychological safety in online interdisciplinary student teams: What teachers can do to promote an effective climate for knowledge sharing, collaboration and problem-solving’, Active Learning in Higher Education. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/14697874241275346.