*Note: This session has passed. Please view the resources and recording below.
About the Session
Educators have described their classes and institutions as “safe spaces” with increasing frequency and certainty since the 1990s. This certainty, implying that a safe space is somehow better for learning outcomes, has been widely adopted with little critical consideration of what it truly means and what is expected when an educational space is labeled “safe”.
Join this free one-hour Facilitating Learning Online (FLO) discussion, exploring “safe space” as an educational metaphor unconsciously communicating both explicit and implicit expectations about the nature of teaching and learning relationships.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Recognize “safe space” as an educational metaphor
- Explain their obligations to others when they welcome them to a safe space
- Identify the implicit promises others make when a place or situation is labeled a safe space
Recording and Resources
- Transcript – FLO Friday: Safe Spaces in Higher Education (PDF)
- Transcript – FLO Friday: Safe Spaces in Higher Education (Word)
- Slides – FLO Friday: Safe Spaces in Higher Education (PDF)
About the Facilitator
Bhuvinder Singh Vaid (he/him/his) is a philosopher of education and an educational developer at the Centre for Teaching Excellence at Capilano University. Bhuvinder’s nearly two decades of work in higher education and consultancy with subject-matter experts are informed by his recognition that teaching and learning exist as uniquely relational practices that are not easily standardized. This understanding has informed his work studying the positionality of seemingly straightforward educational concepts such as safe spaces, efficiency, free speech, and most recently, how to pedagogically engage with Coast Salish canoe stories. You can reach him at bhuvindervaid@capilanou.ca.