The Academic Safety Net: Empowering and Motivating Our Students to Do Their Best Work

Building bridges in the United States in the 1930s, during the Great Depression, was a dangerous job. For example, during the 1933–36 construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, a total of 24 workers died (Kerievsky, 2015). However, something was remarkably different about the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. Built around the same time as the Bay Bridge, it was operated more like a modern construction site, especially in regards to safety11 Some of the groundbreaking safety precautions that were implemented in the building of the Golden Gate Bridge included: 1) adapting mining helmets for use in bridge construction to protect workers from errant flying objects, 2) employing a first of its kind, mandatory hardhat zone, 3) giving glare-free goggles to protect the workers from blinding glare from the sun reflecting off the water, 4) supplying special cream to protect workers skin from wind burn, 5) providing innovative respirators for steel-cleaning workers to protect them from inhaling hazardous materials, and 6) mandating the use of safety lines or face being fired (Kerievsky, 2015). . Joseph Strauss, chief architect for the bridge, used the latest safety equipment, employed safety training, procedures, and oversight as an integral part of the work, invented new safety equipment, and made safety procedures mandatory. Strauss believed that they “… could cheat death by providing every known safety device for workers” (Kerievsky, 2015). When it came time to begin construction of the bridge's roadway, Strauss envisioned the most “expensive, elaborate safety device ever conceived for a major construction site” – a safety net that would be set up underneath the emerging roadway (Kerievsky, 2015, Figure 1). The cost of the net was $130,000 dollars, a rather large sum in those days, especially considering that the bridge was built during the dark economic days of the Great Depression. Despite its cost, Strauss fought hard for and won approval to employ the net. And what were the results, you ask? The presence of the safety net boosted morale22 “No matter how high up you were and how hard you might have been blown off, you would still fall into the net.” Quote from the video Worker Safety During Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge (Danieljbmitchell 2007). , sped up the work33 “The loss of life, the delays that would occur from men working slower because they had to be a bit more careful so they wouldn't fall, probably made the $130,000 dollars a very economic innovation.” Quote taken from the video entitled “Worker Safety During Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge” (Danieljbmitchell 2007). , and saved 19 lives44 The 19 men who fell from the Golden Gate Bridge and were saved by the safety net organized an exclusive club for themselves, calling it the Half Way to Hell Club (Half Way to Hell Club 2020). . In the end, only 11 men lost their lives55 During the first 44 months of the project, there were no deaths and few injuries. However, with only seven months remaining on the project, one worker was crushed by a support beam in October of 1936 and on February 16, 1937, a five-ton platform collapsed, ripping through the safety net, sending 12 men plummeting 220 feet into the frigid waters below. Ten of those 12 workers died from the fall, bringing the total fatality count to 11 (Kerievsky, 2015). building the Golden Gate Bridge, which was much less than the projected number of 35, based on the rule of thumb in those days of 1 life lost for every million dollars spent. Today, the Golden Gate Bridge is an iconic symbol of the San Francisco Bay Area and, to those who know its history, a landmark for worker safety. Though I really don't remember how or when I first learned of the safety net employed by Strauss and its successful outcomes, I have been recently pondering Strauss's revolutionary way of thinking, but not so much in regards to keeping bridge workers safe, but rather in relation to keeping students safe. Though there are several aspects of student safety we could discuss, the area that is presently on my mind is academic safety. By academic safety, I mean making our classrooms a safe and authentic place for students to do their jobs. Just as the workers on the bridge felt physically safe to do their jobs, I want my students to feel academically safe to do their jobs – that is, their jobs of exploring, learning, growing, and changing. The intended purpose of the kind of academic safety I am talking about is not to coddle or cajole our students, but to help them become the best version of themselves, in and beyond the classroom. Creating an environment in which all students feel academically safe is a tall order. Students come to us in all “shapes and sizes,” so-to-speak, and they bring with them such diverse backgrounds and abilities. Though we need to think beyond a one size fits all approach to academic safety, we can implement tangible, everyday practices to establish a safe academic environment for all. As explained by Krall (2018), in his book entitled Necessary Conditions66 In Necessary Conditions, Krall discusses what he believes to be the three essential elements of pedagogy – academic safety, quality tasks, and effective teacher facilitation – that belong in every math classroom. Truly, these pedagogical elements belong in all classrooms. (focused on improving the teaching of secondary math), the foundational principle for creating an academically safe classroom is summed up in the following statement: “An academically safe classroom honors the individual as a mathematician and welcomes him or her into the social ecosystem77 “The term ecosystem is adapted from biology, where it has long been used to describe the populations of any defined area and their interactions with each other and their shared environment. In recent years, the term has also been used in anthropology, sociology, psychology, economics, political science, and business, frequently differentiated in many of these fields as a ‘social ecosystem’ rather than a biological or ecological one.” (Buckelew & Fishman 2010, Chapter 1). of math.” It may seem surprising that the foundational principle for creating an academically safe math classroom is to honor novice learners as mathematicians and to welcome them into the social ecosystem of math! But the intended underlying message of this statement is brilliant – to make the discipline of math accessible to all, rather than exclusive, that is, only for “certain types of students.” Additionally, the statement is meant to be an invitation for students to explore what mathematicians actually do and what dispositions they actually demonstrate and to develop their identity as mathematicians88 This invitation reminds me of the underlying message of the Making Scientists book by Light and Micari (2013). Based on their own transformative experiences, Light and Micari contend that the learning environment is just as critical to academic success in the sciences as a person's individual ability. As such, the book identifies and discusses six learning principles that characterize the environment in which the best science is conducted: 1) learning deeply; 2) engaging problems; 3) connecting peers; 4) mentoring learning; 5) creating community; and 6) doing research. Collectively, these six principles provide a practical framework for designing and implementing educational practices and innovations that are consistent with the actual practice of science. Instead of just the simple acquisition of facts about science, the focus of these principles is making scientists (Schmidt, 2018). . The invitation to learn math as a member of the discipline of math lies in stark contrast to the more traditional approach taken in many math classes where students find themselves as passive observers, where their job is to watch the teacher solve math problems, taken out of a textbook, using rote, step-by-step procedures. After which, the students are instructed to solve the same type of problems for homework. Before you read any further, please take a moment to convert the statement from the discipline of mathematics to your own discipline, to both put yourself in the shoes of a student entering that discipline and to allow the underlying intentions of statement to sink in. The discipline of __________ is open and accessible to you, and you are invited to explore what the members of this discipline actually do and what dispositions they actually demonstrate, and to develop your identity as a member of that discipline. This welcoming, open approach makes me want to be a part of the discipline, how about you? It is so much more inviting, encouraging, and engaging than the stated or implied message sometimes given to new students in challenging disciplines, "Look to your left, look to your right, because one of you won't be here by the end of the year.”99 An urban legend holds that incoming students at Harvard Law School are told to "Look to your left, look to your right, because one of you won't be here by the end of the year” (Kahlenberg, 1992). The novel entitled The Paper Chase by John Jay Osborn (1971) describes the same type of competitive environment at Harvard Law School. Once we have implemented this foundational principle, what comes next for creating academic safety? Well, as stated by Krall (2018), “Once the door is open we must invite students in and clear the obstacles in the way.” The obstacles that Krall is referring to are not the challenges that help students develop intellectually and mature as a person (those need to stay), but rather they are the practices that have become part of the traditional school system that are no longer important or useful for educating today's students (Elmore & McPeak 2017, Hanstedt, 2018). We need to reimagine these practices, so we can present our students with a growth mindset view of education1010 It is common sense that if we want our student to have a growth mindset, the educational system and the practices used need to be growth mindset oriented. For more on the growth versus fixed mindset see Dweck (2006). , as well as of the disciplines we teach. What are some of these classroom practices that have grown into obstacles, impeding our students’ academic safety and negatively impacting their ability and desire to learn? This is an important question for each of us to seriously consider at a deep level, as some obstacles are easier to identify (i.e., separating students into learning tracks, stereotyping) than others (e.g., social pressure, passive caring). Three potential obstacles that I would like us to consider are time, correctness, and grades1111 Krall (2018) does an inspiring job discussing these three obstacles and their associated transformed practices: time (thoughtfulness), correctness (effort), and grades (demonstration of knowledge) in relation to math in Chapter 3 Academic Safety. . Now more than ever (in these COVID-19 pandemic times), we need to rethink all historic, ingrained practices, transforming them into “ones that prioritize academic safety and instill a growth mindset” in our students (Krall, 2018). For a while now, I have been thinking about the influence of time when evaluating (or assessing) students. Some of this thinking was prompted by my own experience as a student (including the taking of standardized tests) and some by the experiences of others, including my own children. A poignant example of my concern with timed evaluations is illustrated by a discussion I had with a high school chemistry teacher who gave her students a final exam consisting of 110 questions, including multiple choice, true-false, matching, short answer, and calculations. When I asked how long the students had to complete the exam, she replied 90 minutes. I was stunned (but tried not to show it), as that is less than one minute per question, ouch! When I asked her why so many questions in such little time, she told me that part of her job was to prepare these students for college chemistry where things were going to be even more difficult and the students were going to need to work even faster. I hope not, I thought. Imposing excessive time limits when evaluating students serves to confound the purpose and results of the exam. In addition to testing the students’ knowledge and ability to solve problems, the teacher is also inadvertently testing the speed at which the students can process the information and how well they are able to work under pressure. Why do we so readily intertwine assessment of student learning with speed and pressure? This common practice in our educational system disproportionally favors those who think fast, answer fast, and act fast. Shouldn't we rather disentangle the demonstration of mastery of content knowledge from speed and pressure? One might counter my question with a question: But isn't speed and being able to work under pressure of high value in today's fast paced society? Yes, in some cases it is, like working as doctor in a hospital emergency room, fighting as a soldier in a war, competing in a national spelling bee, etc. But there are many situations where taking the time to be thoughtful, careful, determined, precise, and persistent is also of great value, like when designing and building a bridge – sure, we want it built as fast as possible, but not at the expense of being structurally unsound, nor at the expense of losing lives building it. Where appropriate, I do think we should disentangle evaluation of mastery from speed and excessive pressure. If speed and pressure are key aspects of a particular discipline or career path, then they should be taught and practiced, not just introduced during testing. Research shows us that processing speed, i.e., the pace at which you take in information, make sense of it, and begin to respond, is variable. Some people process information at a faster speed than others. 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