adult education

No writing tonight because Friday, an also I am working on the plan for the GCL group meeting I'm supposed to lead tomorrow (eek?) but related to that, I love this article,

"My Classroom Is Not a Safe Space" by Elizabeth Hunt. Go read the whole thing but the meat of it, I think, is:

Here’s the thing: Safe spaces emerge. They are not created. They are not designed. And they are most definitely not announced. Moreover, one individual cannot unilaterally declare a safe space as a universal truth to a group of people.

Do you know who gets to declare a space safe? An autonomous individual who felt safe in a space. It goes something like this: “Hey, I really felt safe in this space today.” Unless you’re from Montreal, in which case it goes: “Me, I really felt safe in this space today.” (Do not underestimate the power of the superfluous “me.” It forces you to speak only for yourself.)

Participants and students — not teachers, trainers, or observers — get to name whether a space is safe. They do so for their own individual selves, not the entire group or any other individual. And only after the fact, not before an event has started.

...

What do I do instead of declaring my classroom a safe space?

• I start from the assumption that every student in my classroom is a capable, self-managing, responsible adult. Even if they are only 20. Even if they are sullen and look grumpy.
• I operate from the principle that I know absolutely nothing about what each student has had to weather in life. Even if they are only 19. Even if they are cute and bubbly.
• I design my classes with lots of time for students to connect with each other in a convivial way — especially if we’re addressing serious topics — so we can slowly build relationships.
• I try to create an environment where we can be imperfect, where half-formed thoughts are invited into discussions and awkward silences are allowed to just be.
• I build question-asking activities into every class.
• I am honest and transparent when I’m struggling with how to teach (which is all the time).
• I take responsibility and apologize if I mess up or say something untoward (also all the time).
• I don’t get defensive if a student challenges me. And if I do feel defensiveness creeping up, I try to identify it.
• I set boundaries and uphold them, whether this applies to deadlines, office hours, or student requests.

In essence, the only things I can control in a classroom (or in life) are my assumptions, my beliefs, my behaviors, my choices, my actions, and my reactions — basically me. Everything else is out of my grasp.

I have zero control over how my students experience me and my class, and even less over how this experience intersects with who they are and how they feel on a particular day (or every day). I certainly have no say in what constitutes a safe space.

My classroom is not a safe space.

But maybe, just maybe—if my intentions line up with my actions, if I approach my teaching with kindness and confidence, if I create the conditions for students to connect meaningfully with each other, if what I offer resonates with what they are ready to learn—a student will say, “Me, I really felt safe in this space today.”