Introduction (JOANNE)

School leaders play a vital role in providing every student in New South Wales public schools with a great education and the best start in life. They have a positive impact in classrooms and on their staff. They guide teacher development and engage their communities. Here at the School Leadership Institute, our mission is to support all New South Wales public school leaders, by providing world-class, evidence-informed, leadership development programs and resources. Our School Leadership Institute conversation series will explore the key issues and challenges of school leadership. We'll talk to experts and share their tips and experiences on leading with purpose and impact. I'm JOANNE, the Director of the New South Wales Department of Education's School Leadership Institute. Welcome to the Leadership in Focus series.

JOANNE

Hello and welcome to our first episode of the leadership conversations podcast series. I'm Joanne Jarvis and I'm the Director of the New South Wales Department of Education's School Leadership Institute. And today, we'll be discussing relational trust, what it is and why it matters for school leaders. With me today is Dr Kylie Lipscombe from the University of Wollongong and Karen Maraga, a Principal with the School Leadership Institute. It's a real privilege to have you both join me today, Kylie and Karen, as we discuss this really important topic.

KYLIE

Thanks, Joanne. It's a real privilege to be here.

KAREN

Thanks, Joanne. Really looking forward to having a conversation with you and Kylie.

JOANNE

So let's start by talking about what relational trust is. Kylie, you're very familiar with the research on relational trust. So can you talk to us a little bit about how relational trust is defined in the research?

KYLIE

Um, I've been studying schools and leadership collaboration and partnerships for over 10 years now, and I think more and more often I'm seeing a greater recognition of the importance of relational trust in schools. While, years ago, research simply sort of gave courtesy or a nod to the importance of relational trust, we're now starting to see greater recognition and specificity, I guess, of its complexity and how important it is to not just know what it is and why it's important, but also how it can be built and sustained. There are numerous studies on relational trust, and while these studies include nuances in definition, it's most commonly defined around the interpersonal and social exchanges of people that sort of incur responsibilities or obligations from one another that are both personally and professionally beneficial. So, in other words, you know, relational trust really involves respecting, caring for and believing in the honesty and competency of our colleagues and our leaders.

JOANNE

That's a really powerful definition of relational trust Kylie. You mentioned the greater recognition of the importance of relational trust in schools. So, let's explore what the research says about its impact.

KYLIE

Yeah, there are numerous studies on the benefits of relational trust in schools. Um, some prominent studies have found, um, really important direct relationships between trust and student learning outcomes. So, for example, and probably the most prominent study is by Bryk and Schneider in 2002, which was a longitudinal study of 400 Chicago elementary schools. And in this study they concluded that schools characterised by relational trust are actually three times more likely to improve their outcomes than others. Um, in a more local study in New South Wales of six primary schools conducted by Stephen Camiss and colleagues, he found that relational trust was a critical condition for cultivating a culture of care and collaboration. When leading change and innovation in schools. And this, I guess, was really similar to Bryk and Schneider's work, where they found that teachers are more likely to commit to innovation and change when there's high relational trust and that's coupled with a strong moral imperative to improve student learning. So I think, Joanne, you know what's important in these two examples, you know, which are two of you know, numerous studies on relational trust in schools is that relational trust, um, can and does improve student learning outcomes. Um, it improves the culture of care and collaboration in schools, and it does increase teacher commitment and motivation for change.

JOANNE

So what you're saying is that schools really do benefit from having a high culture of relational trust. So I'm wondering, then, what is it that these leaders who create these conditions so well are doing that enable relational trust to flourish in their settings?

KYLIE

Well, if we look at Bryk and Schneider's research, they found four important dispositions of relational trust. So the first one is around social respect, which is when individuals listen to each other carefully and take each other's point of view into account through interactions. The second is personal regard, or the care with which people interact with each other. And this could mean, for example, going the extra mile. You know when a teacher stays after school to work with a student or a parent, which they so readily do on a daily basis. The third is roll competency. Do individuals have the knowledge and skill and capabilities to deliver on their promises? And the fourth is around personal integrity, the degree to which an individual keeps his or her word and is guided by a clear set of moral and ethical principles.

JOANNE

Thanks, Kylie. It seems to me that relational trust really is the glue that holds teams and organisations together and ultimately supports school and student improvement. And it's associated with the culture. So I'm going to bring you in here, Karen, and ask if you could talk to us a little bit about what this means for school leaders.

KAREN

Thanks Joanne. What we do know is that schools are intricate and complex systems. They're founded on people and relationships. Helen Timperley talks to us about trust not being an all or nothing concept, but one that is dynamic, and it's highly sensitive to ongoing interactions and responses. High trust at one time does not mean that trust still exists at another, and as some leaders have experienced, it's easy to lose, and it can be difficult to regain. So this means as a leader, you can't take for granted that relational trust is always present. Rather, you need to be deliberate about creating and maintaining the conditions that enable it to be sustained.

JOANNE

That's so true, Karen and I'm thinking, that as leaders, it's about the structures, processes and procedures that we put in place to enable greater transparency around things like decision making, strong collaborative practices, a respectful feedback culture, and it's also about being intentional with the ways we connect with staff. It's that sense that relationships are building moments rather than meetings, I think.

KAREN

Yeah, you mentioned collaboration and feedback, both so important for improving teacher practices and student outcomes. Viviane Robinson talks about building the trust while doing the hard work. So, for leaders, we know that we need to engage with the learning alongside our staff. We need to model the types of behaviours that Kylie's mentioned earlier.

JOANNE

So if you had to nominate the top three behaviours that you used as a principal to build and maintain relational trust in your school, what would you say?

KAREN

I think one of the core elements for me was to be able to be a really good listener and ask good questions to seek the points of view of others to really intentionally be curious and in asking those questions, really seek to understand, not to jump to conclusions and make assumptions too quickly. Secondly, having a solutions based focus, one that enabled me to explore with others different ideas and perspectives to bring teams together, seek feedback and develop our own shared way of moving forward and tackling complex problems, and looking at school improvement. And the third was about me being open, honest and frequent in communication because we know as leaders, while it's important to develop and maintain relational trust with our staff and students, we also need to develop and maintain it with our broader community. We know that maintaining trust is ongoing. It includes both that presence and transparency. We need to have a genuine care and interest in the school and its community, and we do demonstrate this as leaders through our actions. We need to be approachable. We need to make time. We able need to be able to show that we're really attentively listening to the concerns and value the feedback and input of those who are part of our broader school community. In doing all of these things, we promote a shared vision and a positive attitude in our schools.

KYLIE

Joanne, do you mind if I just add one more strategy also to Karen's list? I'm really drawn to work associated with developing and using team norms when working in teams. So these norms are developed together by the team, they're agreed on by the team. But also importantly, there's a peer accountability to withhold these team norms. Team norms might include being on time to meetings or not accessing emails during meetings. And these examples, I think, really demonstrate attention to working well together by prioritising the behaviours and actions required for effective team meetings, which we know is a key characteristic of leading highly effective teams.

JOANNE

Yes, Karen and Kylie, your points have really resonated with me because they identify the how of leadership, which we know is so vital to support growth in teacher leader and student learning. What would be your advice about the behaviours that would really damage your ability to create a culture of strong relational trust?

KAREN

Mmm, decisions not made in the best interest of students. Breaking of confidentiality, not leading with integrity, not following through with what you say, really impacts on your own credibility.

JOANNE

Exactly. It's never walking past a standard that you're not prepared to accept, is a really important tenant of leadership, don't you think? Kylie? What are some of the evidence informed ways that leaders can create a culture of relational trust in their schools, in your view?

KYLIE

I think the first thing to tackle in response to that question, Joanne, is really a common misconception in leadership that trust needs to be developed first, and this is simply not true. It can't be firstly developed before the real work is done. Instead, it really needs to be built by the actions of leading well. So, considering relational trust as an ecology in a school is a really useful lens for leaders to consider, I think. You know, how they can positively and successfully establish, maintain and sustain a culture, a relational trust within between their learning communities. So there's a really nice study completed in Canada based on principalship and relational trust. And in this study, the researchers identified that relational trust needs to permeate through the school, through very deliberate and strategic and ongoing attention. And they discuss the importance of establishing and sustaining trust through things like consistent integrity of actions, by breaking down a us versus them mentality between teachers and leaders, by dealing directly with past betrayals and by leading with a genuine care and strong ethical leadership when faced with complexity and difficulties. And I guess, you know, of course, like anything that we want embedded in a culture, leaders really need to sustain relational trust. When relational trust is permeated into the ecology of a school, people will truly listen. Um, and they'll hear one another. They'll engage in risks and innovation. You know, there'll be lots of laughter and joy and a genuine sense of care and passion. Morale will be really high, and leaders and teachers will have the knowledge, the processes and the courage to tackle the hard work and the complex work of teaching and learning. And ultimately, when a school has a strong ecology of relational trust, all the work in schools is leading to better learning for all students.

JOANNE

You certainly described a place where I would love to work and learn. Such important advice that you've just offered us. In drawing this conversation to a close, it seems to me that there are structures and protocols that can be put in place to enable school leaders to create the conditions that we've described today. So, Kylie, what are some recommendations you could share for our listeners to explore this topic further?

KYLIE

Yeah, I guess, um, there's a really nice framework developed by some Aussie researchers actually, Christine Edwards-Groves and colleagues, and their research is specific to middle leadership and relational trust. And from their research, they've actually developed five dimensions of practice, which include interpersonal, interactional, intersubjective, intellectual and pragmatic. And I know that sounds quite complex, but it actually is a really nice framework and quite a practical framework for any leader, but in particular, middle leaders to really think about their leading practices and plan for how they can establish and sustain and maintain relational trust in their schools. I also gravitate towards dialogue and communicative spaces, as I think it's sort of not only the actions but the language used that can build relational trust. So, for example, when making decisions, leaders can ask, 'is it OK?' Um, and that really shows a genuine interest in other people's contributions. Leaders can clearly state what they'll do and what they won't do, and that really shows transparency in their actions. Leaders can tell people that they'll give them time to think before they are asked to make a decision, and that shows people that they appreciate their feelings when they can be asking, you know, what they can do to help and support others. And that really shows, um, you know, that we're in this together.

JOANNE

When I reflect on the key points that I've heard today from the multiple insights that you have both shared with us, two that really stand out for me are the fact that developing trust needs to be deliberate and planned in order for it to be successfully embedded in the culture of the school, and it's complex, and it's complex because it's situated between people, relationships, interactions and actions that take time to build, but they can be so quickly broken. I really want to thank both of you for sharing your wisdom, your insights and your expertise with me today and our broader audience. And for our listeners please visit the School Leadership Institute website. You just have to Google it and it will appear and follow us on Twitter at NSWSLI. And thank you for listening.

KYLIE

Thanks, Joanne.

KAREN

Thanks, Joanne.