Trust and improvement in schools

Abstract

This paper examines how trust affects teachers' willingness to work with innovations introduced by central office administrators. Interview and focus group data collected over a three-year period in five schools are used to analyze the centrality of trust to teachers' willingness to work with administrators to implement continuous improvement and quality management practices for their schools and classrooms. A qualitative data analysis software package was used to code interviews and focus groups for spontaneous comments that addressed trust. Two schools were characterized by high trust, and high willingness to change; high levels of distrust distinguished three others. This emphasis of the analysis is on the association of spontaneously expressed sentiments of trust or distrust and the association of those sentiments with willingness to participate in change initiated from outside the school building. Preexisting patterns of relational and institutional trust will enhance or limit the ability of leaders to initiate large-scale change. More needs to be known about how to change coherently distrustful school settings in order for systemic change to occur.

Trust in School Principals: Teachers’ Opinions

“…Many studies reveal that there is a strong relationships between teacher trust in school principal and better performance at schools (Bryk & Schneider, 2003;Hoy & Tarter, 2004;Marks & Printy, 2003;Louis, 2007;Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 1998). Therefore, this study researched teachers' trust in school principals in terms of as trust in their principals as school leaders, their administrative implementations and their principals' personality in the Turkish educational context and some results were obtained.…”

Collective trust as a social indicator of the instructional capacity: A qualitative research<p>Öğretim kapasitesinin sosyal bir göstergesi olarak kolektif güven: Nitel bir araştırma

“…Bu Yapılan çalışmalarda güvenin; okulların performansını artırmada önemli olduğu (Bryk and Schneider, 2002), sürekli gelişim çabalarını desteklediği (Seashore Louis, 2007), öğretmenleri bir arada tutan bir tutkal görevinde olduğu (Meier, 2002), okullarda meslektaşlar arası güven ile ebeveyn güveni birleştirildiğinde okul etkililiğini artırdığı (Forsyth, Barnes ve Adams, 2006), işbirliği, performans değerlendirme, amaç oluşturma, liderlik, takım ruhu, örgütselbağlılık ve iş doyumuna katkıda bulunma gibi örgütsel faaliyetler vesüreçlerde önemli rol oynadığı (Huff ve Kelley, 2003) belirlenmiştir. Güven algısının yüksek olduğu örgütlerde açık örgüt kültürünün daha kolay benimsendiği, iletişim kanallarının açık olduğu, iş birliği davranışının daha yüksek düzeyde olduğu görülmüştür (Polat, 2007).…”

Examining Montessori Middle School through a Self-Determination Theory Lens: A Mixed Methods Study of the Lived Experiences of Adolescents

“…This finding is echoed in another study of trust and improvement in schools, which found that, in schools that had successfully implemented reforms, teachers consistently cited trustworthy faculty relationships as a principal component of these successes. (Louis, 2007). Administrative support can come in the form of providing staff development and training, including collaboration time, and offering release time for teachers to observe colleagues who can serve as mentors and models.…”