IP. Safe Spaces.
Safe Spaces.
One of the current MA Desing for Art Direction students is completing some excellent work around Safe Spaces and what this means. Given the context of this unit, and the importance of this, it gave me pause to reflect.
Definition.
A place or environment in which a person or category of people can feel confident that they will not be exposed to discrimination, criticism, harassment, or any other emotional or physical harm.
Multiple Safe Spaces.
What is the definition or intention of the word safe, in a Safe Space. Safe spaces can be liberating spaces and experiences for those that feel disenfranchised and unsafe as a minority or other reason, it allows them to be in a virtual, or physical space with individuals that have similar lived experiences and faced similar challenges. This community element can be healing. The definition of Safe Spaces has become more expansive and inclusive, specifically in an academic setting, where I think many teachers like to think they have built a Safe Space in the teaching environment. These definitions are used interchangeable with Safe Space in my experience but the two are different. A Safe Space dedicated to a group of individuals that may feel harassed to support their wellbeing, is different to a Safe Space that is an environment that is inclusive without harassment.
The question is, is how safe should a Safe Space be in the definition of a shared inclusive environment? And or for specific Safe Spaces. For the Safe Space, I think it is for the individuals engaged in the space to define and set the clear boundaries. For a shared Safe Space environment such as a teaching space, the aspirations should still be to be very safe and mindful. The reality is that individuals have different triggers, and tolerances based on their experiences, and trigger warnings and other protocols can be introduced to support this. This does not mean challenging and critical conversation should not happen, even ones that we find discomforting, I think we also need to be aware of incredible political bias towards left wing politics that many of us share in the teaching space, which can alienate and other perspectives.
When there is a Safe Space for individuals that are seeking refugee from discrimination that they are feeling from others, these spaces can also be challenging and safe as long as this is agreed about in advance. Sometimes spaces are moderated in a way that it does not allow for respectful freedom of expression.
I was acting as Course Representative for the PGCert so was receptive to feedback from colleagues. Some of the feedback from colleagues did express concern around this topic of feeling safe, which was also mirrored by some of my personal observations. I think everyone was ready and prepared for challenging conversations, but were not totally clear on the safeness of the space. This is not a critique of anyone, just a reflection how the navigation of these spaces could be enhanced.
Reference List. Bibliography.
Dean, T. (2022). There is More Than One Kind of Safe Space. The Ethics Centre. Available at https://ethics.org.au/there-is-more-than-one-kind-of-safe-space/ Last Accessed 06th June 2024.