Part 9 - Trust Stories
Karen Seashore Louis opens with a quote depicting a system in Texas that exhibits such low trust that a principal lies about tracking dropouts because “we’re not allowed to tell the truth; they don’t want to hear the truth.” A second story illustrates a teacher–teacher trust situation: a poverty-ridden school in Chicago where the teachers think most of the staff are giving their maximum and they are able to respectfully disagree and move on. Next, she outlines the components of trust: type, characteristics, and application. She states that most research looks at trust inside the school but some studies examine the intersection between the social contract with parents and relational trust within the school. Teachers trust that parents are doing the best that they can for their children and that parents believe teachers are doing the best that they can for their children. In such instances, student achievement is higher.
Think about:
- How do you begin to develop trusting relationships under conditions that are not ideal? This is part of the “wicked problem” under which we work.
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