Trust in school leadership: Tschannen-Moran's framework

Trust Matters Reflection

In the book Trust Matters: Leadership for Successful Schools, by Megan Tschannen-Moran (2004), the author addresses the importance of trust issues in schools. Trust is a valuable part of leadership, especially in schools where there are many impressionable young minds. Creating and maintaining trust are both very important, and the only way to do those things is to develop an understanding of how they should be done. While the book is geared toward educators, anyone who is looking for more trust in his or her life can use the book to gain valuable insight. Without trust, an organization will not be effective (Tschannen-Moran, 2004). If the people in an organization do not trust one another, they cannot work in teams properly because they expect others to sabotage them or to not do their parts of the job properly (Tschannen-Moran, 2004). There are five main and important facets of trust discussed throughout the book, and these are honesty, openness, benevolence, competence, and reliability (Tschannen-Moran, 2004).

Additionally, there are also five functions of leadership that are only going to be successful if trust is part of the equation. Those five leadership functions are modeling, coaching, visioning, meditating, and managing (Tschannen-Moran, 2004). While not every leader in every school is going to be an ideal leader, many of them can learn more effective ways to handle their duties by cultivating trust with others (Tschannen-Moran, 2004). In other words, leaders are only effective if they trust and work with one another, and students are only going to follow and respect leaders they trust. If there is no trust, there is no basis for a relationship between leaders or between leaders and followers (Tschannen-Moran, 2004). That is true for schools, but also true for families, companies, and organizations. In the book the focus is on trust in education, but the information provided can certainly be extrapolated out and used in other situations (Tschannen-Moran, 2004).

The role of the leader (generally the principal, in a school setting), is one that must be taken seriously (Tschannen-Moran, 2004). Without a leader who can be trusted, the entire environment is unpleasant for teachers, parents, and students. That unpleasantness will quickly take its toll on the people who rely on that leader, as it is very difficult to rely on people whom one cannot trust (Tschannen-Moran, 2004). In some cases where trust has been lost, though, it can also be rebuilt. That is very important, as well. At times, leaders do make mistakes and breach trust that others have in them. When that takes place, it is possible to regain trust. However, it is a very difficult and time-consuming process (Tschannen-Moran, 2004). It should not be taken lightly. Tschannen-Moran (2004) emphasizes the value of trust, and the value of regaining it rather than giving up when trust has been lost.