Trust dynamics in schools. A research based on critical incidents among teachers and principals in Chilean elementary schools

For more than two decades, the literature on school improvement has studied the importance of relational trust. Indeed, it is firmly established that effective schools have strong relational trust and that low relational... [ view full abstract ]

For more than two decades, the literature on school improvement has studied the importance of relational trust. Indeed, it is firmly established that effective schools have strong relational trust and that low relational trust  is associated with ineffectiveness. If this is so, the challenge facing schools is how to promote and sustain relational trust.  To find answers it is necessary to identify situations in schools that  promote and those that erode relational trust.  Two main actors in schools are the principal and the teachers. This research is focused on the trust relationship among these two actors: how  the necessary mutual trust between principals and teachers is built and gets eroded in the specific Chilean educational context. In the case of teachers, the interest  is also in their collegial trust.

To study this subject, in 2017 we interviewed 34 teachers and 9 principals  of the Valparaiso Region in Chile. We  worked in nine elementary schools (three public and six private subsidized ones) that according to a survey applied to principals and teachers in a sample of 205 schools had different levels of relational trust.  In each school we made critical incident interviews with the principal and 4 teachers. Each interview identified and described situations where he (or she) considered having gained or lost trust in the other actor. The material was coded and submitted to a rigorous content analysis.

The results showed that the dynamics of trust is not the same with chiefs (teacher to principal), subordinates (principal to teachers) or colleagues (teacher to teachers), that is, the roles and positional power  are important to understand trust dynamics; that it is possible to actually identify t¡situations and decisive moments for building/eroding trust; and that emotions are central components in the dynamics of relation trust in schools.  The article ends with thoughts on  the importance of educational context and idiosyncratic factors in the understanding of the dynamics of relational trust in schools.