Over the holidays, I finally got a chance to complete reading books that have been sitting in my "unlibrary". Amy Edmondson's 2019 book on "The Fearless Organization" describes the role of psychological safety in creating learning environments in organizations.
She does a great job of problematizing silence and how employees sometimes bite their tongue to "make nice" or get immediate benefits even if they know how their silence will lead to bigger problems later. The way she describes how culture and behaviour play a role in freeing people to speak and contribute really spoke to me given my own lived experience.
I recommend this book to school leaders and teachers to really reflect on ways in which we create spaces that promote and repress psychological safety. If we want people to be engaged joyfully in learning and contribute their best, we have to reflect on how we create a culture that truly destigmatizes failure and rewards questioning, intelligent failures and participation.
