Team as Support (TAS): How Building Psychological Safety into Classroom Design Led to Higher Performance and More
Team as Support (TAS): How Building Psychological Safety into Classroom Design Led to Higher Performance and More

Summary/Abstract: The pedagogy described in this paper has been transformative in European as well as in New York classrooms. “Team As Support” (TAS) is a structured and replicable teaching model focused on creating “psychological safety” within permanent semester-long teams of 6-7 students. Our eight years of teacher and student experience and our preliminary data make clear how the removal of a fear of criticism along with the creation of a student-driven structure of support brings the student greater freedom in expressing and testing ideas, exposure to multiple points of view, improved metacognition, critical thinking, engagement and much more. Combining elements of Team-Based Learning (TBL) and the Team Management and Leadership Program (TMLP), TAS uniquely emphasizes trust, kindness, and community as central to academic success and personal growth. At the same time, this paper addresses a critical gap in Higher Education studies. “Psychological safety” is well established in research on performance and innovation across multiple fields (business, leadership, management, psychology, social psychology, trauma studies, medicine) although notably absent as in Higher Education. Our work and data on TAS open a new direction in Higher Education studies, work that is supported by research in Higher Education itself on the impact of fear on cognition, critical thinking and memory as well as by the established insights on the benefits of collaborative learning and on the emotional dimensions of learning. The emphasis in TAS on the key ideas of ‘possibility,’ support and breakdown as the path to breakthrough is a unique and innovative toolbox of a growth mindset valued across Higher Education.

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