<p> We are experiencing powerful and exponential shifts in our economy (Schwab, 2015), marked by rapid advancements in automation, information technology, and robotics (Ford, 2016) and the displacement of millions of Americans in the middle class (Goldin & Katz, 2008; Keeley, 2015; Pew Research Center, 2015). Our current education paradigm is “no longer effective” (Zhao, 2016) to prepare students/graduates for a dynamic, volatile, and ambiguous future. These economic shifts have profound social and political impacts. In order for schools to retool and transform, trust creation will become increasingly important to school improvement efforts. The purpose of this study was to understand how teachers perceive trustworthy principal behaviors and what school practices promote trust between teachers and principals and among the teaching faculty. Using primarily a phenomenological methodology, this study examined trust-rich environments in two schools in Southern California. Two questions guided this study: <i>What principal behaviors do teachers perceive as being trustworthy?</i> <i>What sorts of school practices are used to build trust among the adults in school?</i> Teachers in this study were willing to be vulnerable with each other, to experiment with new practices, to initiate change efforts, and to engage in public problem-solving and collective decision-making. The findings suggested that teachers perceived the following three principal behaviors and school practices as important elements in creating trust: (a) Exercising Empathy and Openness, (b) Relating to Teachers as Whole People, and (c) Creating Practices of Voice and Choice. The findings suggest that we may need less industrial-style school leaders and more school leaders who are deeply empathic and skilled facilitators in leveraging the individual and collective strengths, interests, and values of their people.</p><p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10825910 |
| Date | 03 November 2018 |
| Creators | Rashad, Kaleb |
| Publisher | Azusa Pacific University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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