The Wizard of OT

OT education with courage, heart, and brains.

Brave Teaching: Cultivating Courage in Occupational Therapy Educators and Students

Heather Kuhaneck

1-7-25

In today’s evolving educational landscape, teachers are continually called to adapt. Technological advancements, shifting student characteristics and needs, and the imperative for multicultural education, anti-racist pedagogy, and inclusive practices that foster belonging, all demand new approaches to teaching. Teaching therefore can be an act of courage.

This blog post delves into the concept of Brave Teaching, practical strategies for implementation, the research behind its impact, and its relevance in OT education.

What is Brave Teaching?

Brave Teaching is an approach that underscores the essential role of courage in the classroom—for both educators and students. It empowers teachers to embrace vulnerability, take risks, and foster learning environments where students feel safe to grow, explore, and challenge themselves.

Brave Teaching is an educational philosophy that integrates courage into pedagogy. One author suggests there are 4 types of courage to infuse into one’s classroom, moral, disciplined, intellectual, and empathetic (see https://corwin-connect.com/2017/01/4-types-everyday-courage/ ).

  • Moral = standing up for one’s values and what one thinks is right- especially when others are being treated unfairly 
  • Disciplined =  maintaining one’s focus regardless of failures 
  • Intellectual = humility and awareness of one’s limitations, being open to new ideas and understandings from learning 
  • Empathetic = being able to listen to another and put aside our own biases and stereotypes 

Brave teaching encourages educators to discuss and model courage in their own teaching and to explicitly teach students about courage as well.

Brave teachers:

  • Embrace vulnerability: Being open about uncertainties and modeling lifelong learning.
  • Build brave spaces: Creating environments where students feel comfortable taking risks.
  • Engage in critical reflection: Assessing biases, assumptions, and teaching practices.
  • Promote resilience: Encouraging students to persist through challenges and failures.
  • Innovate boldly: Trying new teaching strategies, even in the face of potential failure. One must interrogate one’s own teaching in order to improve.

Brave teaching requires comfort with the uncomfortable.  Faculty must be vulnerable as they try new things in class and gather student feedback. Brave teachers model cultural humility and vulnerability. Brave teachers recognize the influence of culture/identity on everything that happens in the classroom.  Brave teachers must engage students in difficult conversations and fight the urge to avoid conflicts. Brave teachers ensure that privileged students must be brave as well even if they are afraid of saying the wrong thing. Avoidance can lead to topics becoming “undiscussable” and thus allow for continued misunderstanding and assumptions. Brave teachers may ask students to reflect on their own participation after each class, asking students to consider why they did or did not participate in certain topics or activities.

Brave teachers must intentionally integrate a wide range of perspectives, and provide learning experiences and opportunities that are equitable. Students should not be tasked with providing their personal perspectives in class unless they volunteer to do so. To gather and find varied perspectives outside of the classroom, there are many online stories to be shared.

Finding Diverse Perspectives and Stories 

Creating brave spaces as opposed to “safe spaces”

Recently the social justice concepts of safe and brave spaces have been adapted for classroom teaching. The concept of a safe space implies no harm, and perhaps no risk. However, any learning will require some risk, some letting go and some measure of vulnerability. In so many of the important topics of today, to remove risk in discussing challenging and controversial issues is impossible and perhaps not an appropriate goal. A safe space that protects people is not exactly what we want to create in the classroom.

Alternatively, the brave space concept allows for some danger and risk, suggests there may be threats, and acknowledges that bravery will be required.  However, the important piece for educators is that students who take risks and are brave must be supported and they must know they will be taken care of.  Students must feel courageous enough to risk learning and change. A brave space incorporates multiple perspectives, challenges assumptions, promotes dialogue, and avoids judgement. Student faculty partnerships in brave spaces are key to this growth.

Why focus on courage?

There are two main reasons to practice Brave Teaching 1) improved outcomes for students, and 2) innovation and professional development for teachers.

A variety of studies suggest that students benefit from important outcomes such as perseverance, a sense of purpose and satisfaction, and willingness to advocate for others (see Why is it Important?).  Students also may enhance their learning, and become more open to varied perspectives.

For teachers, courage can support innovation and professional growth.

Applications for OT Education

Occupational therapy educators can incorporate Brave Teaching in the following ways:

  • Model vulnerability and growth mindset: Share personal learning experiences and mistakes to normalize imperfection.
  • Encourage students to take risks: Design assignments that require creative problem-solving and innovation and use grading practices that allow for failure and mistakes without penalty.
  • Create a supportive classroom: Foster an environment where students feel comfortable asking questions, sharing concerns, and engaging in meaningful discussions.
  • Use experiential /case-based learning: Implement simulations, case studies, and hands-on experiences that challenge students to step outside their comfort zones. Use complex, ambiguous case studies that require bold decision-making.
  • Advocate for equity and inclusion: Challenge systemic barriers in education and clinical practice, modeling advocacy for students.Teach students to advocate for clients and policy changes, reinforcing courage in professional practice.
  • Fieldwork preparation: Encourage students to embrace uncertainty and adapt to unpredictable clinical situations.
  • Interprofessional education: Engage in collaborative learning with other healthcare disciplines to develop confidence in teamwork and leadership.
  • Ethical decision-making: Encourage students to confront ethical dilemmas with integrity and assertiveness.
  • Innovate and broaden: Try alternative grading practices,competency based assessment, include AI in course activities/ assignments. Generally consider changes to the status quo and think deeply about WHY we do things the way we do.  Who does it serve?  Broaden content to include multicultural perspectives, international OT developments, models, theories, and research.

Resources to aid your journey as a brave teacher

  1. Brave New Teaching – https://www.bravenewteaching.com/ – a podcast that “give(s) teachers the inspiration, support, and tools to challenge the status quo no matter where they are in their teaching journey.”
  2. An invitation to a Brave Space https://www.grossmont.edu/faculty-staff/participatory-governance/student-success-and-equity/_resources/assets/pdf/brave-space-poem.pdf 
  3. Brave Community-  https://www.janinedenovais.com/   a “A research-based, practice manual  for anyone who wants to tackle racism and help others to do the same in classrooms and organizations.” (The author’s dissertation is also available here https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/33052859/DENOVAIS-DISSERTATION-.pdf?sequence=1 
  4. The Center for Courage and Renewal – https://couragerenewal.org/about-us/
  5. The Science of Courage https://ggie.berkeley.edu/event/science-of-courage/ 
  6. Courage in Education Course https://ggie.berkeley.edu/course/courage-in-education/ 
  7. Practices to promote courage https://ggie.berkeley.edu/student-well-being/courage-for-students/#tab__2 
  8. Brene Brown Posdcast about brave spaces  https://brenebrown.com/podcast/building-brave-spaces/ 
  9. Norm setting to build brave spaces https://instructionalmoves.gse.harvard.edu/inclusivity-and-belonging/step-3-norm-setting-to-build-brave-spaces 
  10. Book -Safe Spaces Brave Spaces –  https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262535960/safe-spaces-brave-spaces/ 
  11. A workbook for everyday courage https://www.alifeinprogress.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/On-Everyday-Courage-Workbook.pdf
  12. Teaching Brave Ted Talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_OB_hC8IbQ
  13. 6 ways to find your courage – https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/six_ways_to_find_your_courage_during_challenging_times

References

Arao, B., & Clemens, K. (2013). From safe spaces to brave spaces: A new way to frame dialogue around diversity and social justice. In L. M. Landreman (Ed.), The art of effective facilitation (pp. 135-150). Stylus Publishing, LLC. https://www.anselm.edu/sites/default/files/Documents/Center%20for%20Teaching%20Excellence/From%20Safe%20Spaces%20to%20Brave%20Spaces.pdf 

Baker-Doyle, K. J., Hunt, M., & Whitfield, L. C. (2018). Learning to fall forward: A study of teacher courage, equity, and freedom in the connected learning classroom. The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, 35(5), 310-328.

Brazill, S., & Ruff, W. (2022). Using transformational leadership to create brave space in teaching multicultural education. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 24(2), 114-131.

Caldicott, Catherine V. MD1. Revisiting Moral Courage as an Educational Objective. Academic Medicine 98(8):p 873-875, August 2023. | DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000005239

Cook-Sather, A. (2016). Creating brave spaces within and through student-faculty pedagogical partnerships. Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education, 1(18), 1. https://repository.brynmawr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1143&context=tlthe 

de Novais, J. (2021). Brave Community: teaching and learning about racism in college. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 36(9), 1795–1808. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2021.1942302

Knight, R. (2023). Pedagogical Change and Professional Courage. In: Menter, I. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Teacher Education Research . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16193-3_32 https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/220332299/Complete_book_PDF.pdf#page=811 

Nelson, S. B. (2024). Holding a Brave Space: Lessons from Reality Storytelling. The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion (IJIDI), 6-27.

Nollet, K. M. (2009). Teacher transformations: A phenomenological study on the effect of Courage to Teach on experienced teachers’ growth and development. Lesley University.

Palmer, P. (2009). The courage to teach. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. 

Parker, E. L. (2021). Courage to Teach for Courage. Journal of Theology for Southern Africa, 170, 56-73. https://srpc.ukzn.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/mdocs/W6%20JTSA%20170%202021%20Parker%20pg%2056.pdf 

Verduzco-Baker, L. (2018). Modified brave spaces: Calling in brave instructors. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 4(4), 585-592.

Winger (2022). Using Courage, Compassion, and Connection to Combat Disconnection.  https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/using-courage-compassion-and-connection-to-combat-disconnection/ 

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