I’ve recently been inspired by undertaking my MA Dissertation and it’s led to a real revelation in my approach to leading a classroom – I’m not in as much control as I think I am…
I’m sure this isn’t a revelation to other lecturers/tutors/teachers but its a pretty critical one for me. When I came into teaching from clinical practice 4 years ago, I could ride the coat-tails of my teaching approach which I intended to be refreshing – I’ve always tried to lead a session as if I’m speaking to people in the pub (stay with me…) and for a few years now, I’ve started all my sessions by establishing psychological safety in the room – Just declaring at the start this is a ‘psychologically safe space’ – and the cracking on with the content. But, What a waste of time!
I’ve learnt through my dissertation that I can’t possibly declare psychological safety into existence!
I spoke to a good volume of my students for my dissertation and although we were mainly talking about simulation, I’m extremely confident there’s some transferrable learning points. Namely the importance of the cohort culture, and looking back it makes a lot of sense.
What really came through in my conversations with them was fear. Not nerves or anxiety — proper fear. They weren’t just anxious about the task; they were scared of being exposed in front of their peers. They see the learning importance in engaging with a task/session, but that fear stopped them from fully participating. The younger (less time spent together) cohorts seemed to feel it more but probably because they hadn’t yet built the kind of group culture that allows people to show weakness without worrying about judgement.
They told me they liked having ground rules, but that those rules didn’t mean much when they just came from me or they wrote them on a worthless agreement page. They needed to live them, to see and feel them in action from each other. This made me realise that, while I thought I was setting the tone, they were actually creating their own version of safety. They were doing what I couldn’t which was shaping a culture, which often only suited them as individuals, not the group as a whole.
So now, I’ve stopped pretending I can “declare” psychological safety.
I try instead to build on what learners already value which is working in small groups with those they’re comfortable with. We start sessions by acknowledging and naming gaps in knowledge or experience, and recognising that fear isn’t a flaw, it’s just part of the process. If I can start turning their fear into anxieties, I’m moving in the right direction.
My job is to now notice what’s already there and help it grow, not to impose a version of safety that only exists in my head, which I’ve likely been guilty of for too long.
Useful Resources:
Nestel, D., Bruun, B., Dieckmann, P., Tulloch, S. and Gormley, G.J. (2025) ‘Tending’ the ‘garden’ of psychological safety in simulation-based education. Journal of Healthcare Simulation,.
Newhouse, L. and Polwart, N. (2025) What can simulation educators learn from the reluctant participant? An exploration of the factors influencing engagement amongst adult learners participating in paediatric simulation training. Advances in Simulation, 10(1) 4.
Kolbe, M., Eppich, W., Rudolph, J., Meguerdichian, M., Catena, H., Cripps, A., Grant, V. and Cheng, A. (2020) Managing psychological safety in debriefings: a dynamic balancing act. BMJ Simulation and Technology Enhanced Learning, 6(3) 164–171.
Rudolph, J.W., Simon, R. and Raemer, D.B. (2007) Which Reality Matters? Questions on the Path to High Engagement in Healthcare Simulation. Simulation in Healthcare, 2(3) 161.
Dean Walker 