What are the most important factors for emotional safety?
Q: What would you consider the five most important things a school can do to achieve emotionally safe classrooms?
A: The first step towards an emotionally safe classroom is an emotionally "safe” teacher. In other words, teachers need to understand that they are the most powerful barometer of the emotional temperature of a class. It's a truism to say that your mood affects the mood of everyone around you. When I am running training days, I talk a lot about the fact that there are days when even you know that you are too dangerous to go out. On those days, I say to people, 'Don't try to do an exciting Circle Time or anything different - just get through the day with" dignity and treats.' We as consultants often help teachers work out how to put Golden Moments into their day and how to create their own personal care programme.
The second step would be to work out, with your pupils, the moral values you all wish to adopt to keep your classroom physically and emotionally safe. We call these Golden Rules. When the Golden Rules are displayed, they are backed with gold paper for maximum effect. We take photos of children keeping the Golden Rules (the ideas from the photos being suggested by the pupils themselves). In other words, we would have photos of children being gentle, kind, honest, listening, working hard and looking after property. At step 3, you then need to, work with the pupils separately on the routines of the class, which we call class rules: 'We put our pens and pencils away in the box', 'We line up calmly' an so on. These are the safety routines. They keep order. . . but they must not be muddled up with the moral values.
Once these rules are established, work out a clearly consistent, transparent and fair system of incentives and sanctions. Again, these need to be negotiated with the class, and they need to reflect the language of the Golden Rules. Examples are 'An emotionally safe classroom rewards children who look after other people's emotions', 'Safe classrooms have rewards for children who are gentle, kind and honest' and so on. Your sanctions, to be emotionally safe, need to be based on sound psychological principles. We advocate the withdrawal of Golden Time, a privilege that is available to all children to enable them to celebrate all those pupils who keep to the moral values. The Golden Time system has been structured particularly with the needs of 'middle-plodders' in mind. In other words, an emotionally safe classroom does not just focus on disruptive pupils. It concentrates its resources and its energy on all those children who come in every day and keep to the ethos of the class. I am taking it for granted that an emotionally safe class teacher would only offer children a curriculum that enabled each one of them to experience success and excitement.
The final step is to ensure that the weekly forum of Circle Time is vibrant and fun. I have seen some very boring Circle Times in which the children sit in a circle and the teacher talks too much. To do Circle Time properly, the teacher would adhere to a five-step structure which would not only allow every child to be heard, but it would also ensure that the class celebrated success. The overriding ethos would be that this circle was an exciting and friendly place to be. To laugh, to play, to be creative and imaginative are basic human needs. Some of our classrooms are not emotionally warm enough. I advocate that teachers share ideas and have staff Circle Times where they can experience the support and help of others, in order to understand the importance of maintaining the same ethos for their pupils. If a teacher is not heard or supported by their staff members, they will have no energy to give to the class. So, an emotionally safe school will have Circle Time for staff and pupils.
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