72. Bringing Psychological Safety to Our Teachers with Michael Vargas

As educators, we know the importance of making sure our students feel safe. Their learning depends on it.

But we often forget that the success of our students depends on our teachers and school staff members feeling safe and heard, too. It’s only with the safety of our teachers that they can show up fully for the students they’re charged with supporting.

This week on the podcast, Michael Vargas of Lead By Impact and I talk about how the psychological safety of our teachers transfers over the safety and success of our students. Because with that safety, teachers are likelier to share ideas and strategies, and are more open-minded and understanding.

I hope you’ll tune in and think about how you can facilitate more open conversations in your own schools and create a structure around collaboration and sharing.

 

About Michael Vargas:

Michael is an international facilitator with nearly 10 years of experience.  Utilizing his Master in Clinical Psychology, improv, and design thinking background Michael facilitates workshops and speaks to organizations on developing collaborative and productive team cultures.  Lead By Impact supports teams to develop psychological safety, building trust, and effective communication.  They have worked with organizations like Dropbox, Salesforce, Kaiser Permanente, ACLU, Evergreen Middle School, the County of San Diego, and many more.

Jump in the Conversation: [1:56] What is psychological safety [3:34] Schools evolving for all learners  [3:56] What prevents teachers from speaking up [8:59] Ways schools can start these conversations with teachers and create safety [14:23] Transferring this idea to students and to life in general [15:55] Clarity in structure and process [21:33] Us vs. Them is an opportunity for clarity [23:26] Tools to help teachers move beyond the traditional landscape [26:06] Setting the soil to help this idea grow [30:49] How to reframe if no one has questions [32:29] The deep wisdom of nurturing people’s intuition [35:06] Turbo Time Questions [46:18] Michael’s magic wand [49:45] Maureen’s takeaways
Link Building a Psychologically Safe Workplace--Amy Edmondson’s TEDx talk Thinking Fast and Slow by Nobel Peace prize winner Daniel Kahneman Link to Psychological Safety Infographic from Lead by Impact Episode 61: Examining Polarity Thinking with Lindsay Y. Burr Maureen’s TEDx talk: Changing My Mind to Change our Schools Email Maureen Maureen’s Changing My Mind to Change Our Schools TEDx talk The Education Evolution Facebook: Follow Education Evolution Twitter: Follow Education Evolution LinkedIn: Follow Education Evolution EdActive Collective Maureen’s book: Creating Micro-Schools for Colorful Mismatched Kids Micro-school feature on Good Morning America The Micro-School Coalition Facebook: The Micro-School Coalition LEADPrep