Safety first!

It is the number one issue after all

There is a big difference between something offered conditionally or unconditionally.  When it is something important – like feeling safe – a child needs this to be unconditional.  No matter how badly they behave they must know, without a shadow of doubt, that the offer of safety from the adults around them will not be withdrawn.

Most people have been brought up with conditionality, often to the extent that we don’t easily see the difference – or importance – of being unconditional in key areas.

Consistently, students’ most important need is to feel safe. Safety cannot be offered conditionally and still be called ‘safety’. If I know I will be kept safe provided I stay within certain boundaries that does not assuage my fear that – through no fault of my own – I end up crossing a boundary and my safety is compromised.

The Behaviourist paradigm is always conditional, no matter how weakened that paradigm has become.  In the emerging paradigm based on teacherly authority the offer of unconditional safety - no matter what I say or do I will never be humiliated, for example – can be an element of the offer to students to form a teacherly authority relationship.

And students do need to learn this too, the key feature of high performing teams - the basis for many successful enterprises - is psychological safety.

Where better to learn how to do this if not at school?

John Corrigan is an expert in helping individuals to bring their whole of mind to their daily life and increase their effectiveness and the effectiveness of those around them. This expertise scales from the individual to the team to the organisation.  At the core of this work is the concept and practice of teacherly authority.  Earlier blogs can be found here.

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