Relational Trust

In their article, both Bryk and Schneider (2003) identified relational trust as a key variable in increasing student learning. In their 4 year longitudinal study with 12 different school communities, they found that schools that had scored high on relational trust demonstrated marked improvements in students learning as opposed to schools that had low score on relational trust. They also identified four key components of trusting relationships: respect, personal regard, personal integrity and competence in core responsibilities and discussed the conditions or factors that fostered it.

Personally, I agree that it is essential for school leaders to build up relational trust with the school community. This is because teachers generally feel safe to take on new initiatives if there is a culture of trust in the school. From experience, I have seen how good school leaders, who I have worked under, take their schools to greater heights because of the relational trust that they have established with their staff. While it is essential for all school leaders to develop relational trust, it is strangely, not a topic of discussion back home and I wonder why. Perhaps it is time that relational trust becomes a conversational topic between school leaders and their middle managers and their staff so that a culture of trust can be built up.

Relational trust, I realize is not built overnight. Back home, everyone wants to see instant result or outcomes. Building up relational trust however takes time and school leaders must realize this. In trying to build relationships, it is common to see school leaders in Singapore organizing staff retreats and workshops for their respective schools. Bryk and Schneider however have so correctly pointed out that a “school cannot achieve relational trust simply through some workshop, retreat, or form of sensitivity training, although all of these activities can help” (p.43). Yet, school leaders continue to organize retreats and workshops for their staff. For me, retreats and workshops are seen as quick fixes and quick fixes are only temporary and do have lasting outcomes. School leaders should instead look into building lasting and sustainable relationships and Bryk and Schneider (2003) have shown that this can be done through “day-to-day social exchanges” (p.43) as trust “grows through exchanges in which actions validate these expectations”(p.43). As I will assume the role of a school leader upon my return, this article serves as a good reminder that I should make a conscientious effort to build relational trust. In fact, it should be my main priority and administrative work secondary as it is “a core resource for school reforms”. It is an area that I would also like to impress upon my Heads of Department as they too take on department initiatives with their teachers so as to contribute to school wide improvements. According to Kaser and Halbert (2009) “strong levels of trust and respectful relationships are precondition for successful school improvement initiatives. When adult relationships are characterised by trust, the stories about change shift from indifference or negativity to possibility and hope” (p.43). As trust is amongst one of six important leadership mindsets that Kaser and Halbert (2009) have identified, every leader should therefore seriously consider the building of relational trust a priority because it serves to enhance the overall school climate as well as contribute to student learning.

While I agree with Bryk and Schneider that a school principal in a troubled school community may need to “remove a few problematic teachers” as they undermine trust, the removal of such teachers however requires moral courage. What troubles me is that most school leaders find the job of removing problematic teachers uncomfortable. I have often heard school leaders saying, “I prefer not to rock the boat”. As I reflect on this statement, I begin to wonder how fair this is to the school or the children under their charges? If indeed school leaders genuinely want their schools to make progress, they must have the moral courage to remove such teachers from their schools. To me, courage is linked to intense moral purpose. School leaders with intense moral purpose will know that it is their responsibility to change those things that “they have control over in order to alleviate disadvantage and promote the deeply human fulfillment of young people” (Starratt, 2004, p.144). They will also be determined to improve the life chances of their learners and be committed to providing with the highest possible quality learning experience. Having a moral purpose is therefore essential as it provides one with the moral courage to do what is right for the common good. It is also essential to “sustaining successful leadership” (Day and Littlewood (eds), 2007, p.176) and an equally important leadership mindset to acquire other than relational trust.