Psychological Safety Among K-12 Educators: Patterns Over Time, and Associations with Staff Well-being and Organizational Context

• NCJ Number: 309625
• Journal: Psychology in the Schools Volume: 61 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2024 Pages: 2315-2337
• Author(s): Christopher M. Fleming; Hannah G. Calvert; Lindsey Turner
• Date Published: June 2024
• Length: 23 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2017-CK-BX-0021
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Award: Scaling-up Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) Framework in Rural Settings through the Idaho Rural Implementation Model (I-RIM)

Annotation

This paper reports on findings from a research study exploring patterns of psychological safety over four years among staff members at 20 rural, K-12 schools; it notes that psychological safety varies among educators but is typically stable over time, grater psychological safety is consistently associated with greater perceived supports and lower burnout levels, and interventions to improve psychological safety may improve resilience to workplace stress.

Abstract

Psychological safety is a psychosocial construct that reflects an individual's perception of social risk in the work environment, and is related to employee performance and well-being, including job satisfaction and burnout. Psychological safety remains relatively understudied among educators, including its patterns over time and relationships with other aspects of the school environment. This study explored patterns of psychological safety over four years among 769 staff at 20 rural K-12 schools, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the associations of these patterns with work-associated well-being and organizational context outcomes. Repeated measures latent profile analyses identified a 3-class solution of stable-high (51.0%), stable-medium (44.8%), and dynamic-low (4.2%) psychological safety classes. Those in the stable-high class had consistently better outcomes, including less burnout and greater self-efficacy, and better perceived organizational context and climate, compared to other classes. Among educators, psychological safety is generally stable, and reliably differentiates other important outcomes. Interventions fostering greater psychological safety may improve perceptions of the school environment and reduce burnout. (Published Abstract Provided)