The Management and Mismanagement of Trust

There has been a growing literature on trust over the last decade. It can to some extent be located with concerns over economic productivity, and the fact that societies with cultures of trust tend to be more prosperous than those that do not. However, it can also be traced to concerns over the changing nature of organizations in a post-bureaucratic age, and to more recent widespread educational concerns over the ability of governments to trust professional educators. This article examines a number of meanings of `trust', and argues that different agendas only partially recognize these. Such failure to recognize the complexity of the term, and of the implications of this for educational policy and management, fails to fully realize the impact this has on the morale of teaching professionals, on the acceptable and effective management of schools, and on the ability of educational organizations to cope with the demands of a knowledge-based society. However, despite the obstacles, this article concludes that trust not only is beneficial to the educational enterprise, but may be an inevitable and increasing element of the relationship between governments and educators.