fostering trust

I really liked the TEDx talk Helen posted today about creative thinking. What made me think was, the moment Dr. Corazza talked about how the situation or environment we're in can influence our thinking out of the box. He talked about the fear of punishment (i.e.for answering in the "wrong" way), being one reason, that could hold us back.

Fear seems to be quite a big inhibitor, for thinking, but also dancing/moving outside of the box. My daughter took up gymnastics recently, she absolutely loves it. But she is hypersensitive and transitions and entering a new situation is always an immense challenge for her. When we arrive at the gymnastics studio, her whole body would always tense up and she would cry for the first five minutes. You can literally observe, how fear freezes her body.
This is the fear of a six year old. But I think we all have our fears, that can inhibit us to think, or voice our thoughts outside the box, or to dance outside the box, or our comfort zone. Maybe less obvious, than in the example above, (but that can some times make it even more challenging to address, or even be aware of the fear).
"What will the others think of me?", "Is that the correct answer?", "I must look so silly doing that step", "I have the feeling my students can't connect at all, to what I'm saying" etc.

This leads me to think, what an important part trust plays in any kind of learning and what a great responsibility we have as teachers to facilitate an environment in our class and practice, where students can learn to trust themselves, but also others: make mistakes without being laughed at, or told off by peers and teachers, where asking questions is ok, where the practice is driven more by curiosity and research, rather than attaining one ideal or finding the correct answer.

Trust allows you freedom, to go further in your thinking and dancing. So how can we foster an atmosphere in teaching/learning situations that allows trust and the best possible growth of our students, but also us as teachers?

Curious to hear your thoughts and experiences around that topic!