One of the recent conversations in K-12 education has focused on creating environments of trust for students. Classrooms that are founded on trusting relationships enable students to take risks and make mistakes. They also teach young people how to learn from failure and develop the resilience they need to succeed in school and life. What is often missing from this conversation, however, is how a lack of trust among the adults who run our schools—including teachers, principals, and district personnel—can affect the success of the entire district.
Unfortunately, many teachers and school leaders often experience a culture of blame and the fear of failure. As a consultant who has worked for more than 20 years with teachers' unions, policymakers, and departments of education in large urban school systems, I have seen firsthand why trust is so critical to the management of a healthy...