Abstract:

This article discusses a series of prototypes developing and researching the culture of expressing ideas, asking questions, and permitting mistakes among welfare and innovation students. The final design is intended used in a three-year action research project following two classes of bachelor students from start to final examination. Risk taking and psychological safety are fundamentals for developing this culture. We experience lack of psychological safety as a barrier for student engagement in teams and class, and thus a barrier for individual and organizational learning.

Why is psychological safety among welfare and innovation students relevant in a broader context? These student groups are interesting because they represent two different perspectives on psychological safety. The innovation students come from a practice of working in teams on development projects with private and public stakeholders, where risk taking is an essential part of the process of innovation. The welfare students are to be the voice for clients that in many cases are not heard. The welfare students will need to be psychological safe to handle situations that are emotionally demanding so they can take on the facts and have a clear view of the situation and facilitate for good and cooperative working conditions in practice.

The article takes an action research approach that unite theory and practice and the possibility to try out new approaches to change practice. Feldman, A. and Minstrell, J. (Feldman & Minstrell, 2000) talk about action research in the meaning that teachers research on their own practice of teaching. It is developmental in nature and has two main purposes. One is improvement of their teaching practice to improve the students learning. The second purpose is to seek an improved understanding of the educational situations in which they teach so that it can become a part of the knowledgebase of teaching and learning.

Changes in psychological safety among students in higher education develop over time and suggest longitudinal data (Argote & Miron-Spektor, 2011). We employ design thinking (Beckman & Barry, 2007; Castellion, 2010) and the hunter gatherer model (Steinert & Leifer, 2012) exploring different prototypes for making sense of participants’ experiences. Measurements of psychological safety is based on Edmondson’s model of team learning (1999) and the survey measure of psychological safety (2019, p. 20). The study will experiment with different workforms and interventions (World café, panel discussions, continuous improvement projects, dialogue workshops, …). These experiments will include individual, team, class, and inter-disciplinary arenas. The results will be used in the final research design proposed for a three-year action research project following two classes of students.

Keywords:

Psychological safety, risk taking, action research, design thinking.