Building a climate of faculty trust in students through principal support of student psychological needs

PurposeThis study was designed to test the relationship between principal support of student psychological needs and faculty trust in students. Without direct empirical evidence to draw from, the line of reasoning integrated evidence on social-cognitive processes involved in trust formation and conversation theory to advance two hypotheses: (1) After accounting for school and leadership conditions, principal support of student psychological needs will be related to school differences in faculty trust in students; (2) The relationship between principal support of student psychological needs and faculty trust in students is mediated by a positive view of the teaching task.Design/methodology/approachHypotheses were tested with a nonexperimental, correlational research design using ex post facto data. Due to the hierarchical structure of the data, hypotheses were tested with a 2-2-1 multilevel mediation model in HLM 7.03 with restricted maximum likelihood estimation.FindingsFindings were consistent with the hypothesized relationships – principal support of student psychological needs was related to faculty trust in students and this relationship was mediated by teacher perceptions of the teaching task.Originality/valueSchool research has primarily examined interpersonal antecedents of trust, focusing on behaviors and characteristics that position a person or group as trustworthy. This study extends trust research to the cognitive side of the formation process, calling attention to the function of mental representation in shaping trust discernments. Results suggest that cognitive processes hold promise as both a source of faculty trust in students and as a malleable mental structure that school leaders can shape through conversation.

Predicting school innovation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of collective teacher efficacy, academic press and faculty trust, all of which are components of academic optimism (AO), in predicting school innovation. In addition, the authors explored the extent to which faculty trust mediates the association between collective teacher efficacy and academic press with school innovation. Design/methodology/approach In all, 1,009 teachers from 79 schools in Northern Israel completed anonymous questionnaires about AO and innovation. Aggregation, descriptive statistics, bivariate correlation analyses and mediation analysis were performed to analyze the data. Findings Results showed that the components of AO, i.e., collective teacher efficacy, academic press and trust, were positively correlated to school innovation, and that trust mediated the relationship between collective teacher efficacy and school innovation. The study results confirmed that AO holds a significant predictive value in school innovation and highlights the importance of trust in supporting innovation. Practical implications As school leaders are challenged to foster innovative new practices in their schools, the findings suggest that they will need to know how to cultivate collective teacher efficacy, academic press and faculty trust. Originality/value This is the first study to examine the role of the components of AO in predicting innovation. By using a robust sample, the authors were able to examine the proposed school-level model with respect to the factors that affect school innovation. Originality also lies in the organizational approach to educational innovation in relation to faculty’s beliefs and behaviors.

The Mediating Effect of Faculty Trust in Principals on the Relationship Between Servant Leadership Practices and Organizational Health

This study measured the mediating effects of faculty trust on the relationship between servant leadership and organizational health. The context of this research was within the field of education, with a focus on elementary education. Public schools in a district in Maryland participated in the research survey. A cross-sectional survey was utilized that incorporated three validated and reliable published instruments. The results of the study concluded the following: (a) servant leadership does have a significant impact on organizational health, (b) faculty trust does act as a mediator in the causal pathway although it is a partial mediator, and (c) faculty trust attenuates the influence that servant leadership has on organizational health. The results of this study were framed around six research questions related to the study of three variables. The questions were: (1) To what extent is there a relationship between servant leadership and academic emphasis? (2) To what extent is there a relationship between servant leadership and resource influence? (3) To what extent is there a relationship between servant leadership and teacher affiliation? (4) To what extent is there a relationship between servant leadership and institutional integrity? (5) To what extent is there a relationship between servant leadership and collegial leadership? and (6) To what extent is there a relationship between servant leadership and faculty trust mediated by faculty trust? The research data supported findings that two of the five dimensions had a statistically significant relationship, collegial leadership, and institutional integrity. Teacher affiliation, resource influence, and academic emphasis did not have statistically significant relationships. The sixth question specifically stated, “To what extent is there a relationship between servant leadership and organizational health mediated by faculty trust?” The data supported faculty trust as a partial mediator and that the relationship between servant leadership practices and collegial leadership had the strongest relationship. However, when faculty trust was included in the relationships, it attenuated each of them.

Exploring how instructional leadership affects teacher efficacy: A multilevel analysis

This study employed a multilevel modeling approach to examine the impact of principal instructional leadership on teacher efficacy and the mediating role played by faculty trust in that process. A total of 50 secondary school principals and 714 teachers in a minority region of Western China participated in the study. The results indicate that instructional leadership, in terms of developing a positive learning climate, directly and positively affects teacher efficacy. Instructional leadership practices that define the school’s mission, manage the instructional program, and develop positive school learning climate, positively affect faculty trust. The results underscore the fact that specific instructional leadership practices have more indirect than direct impacts on teacher efficacy through faculty trust in the principal. The areas of significance identified by this study may guide policy makers and practitioners for informed decisions and interventions targeting to build up teacher efficacy.

Principal Learning-Centered Leadership and Faculty Trust in the Principal

Principals are increasingly held accountable for student achievement. Existing research has found principal leadership indirectly affects student achievement. Using the Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education measurement of principal learning-centered leadership and the Omnibus T-Scale measurement of faculty trust in the principal, researchers sought to better understand the relationship between the perceived learning-centered leadership of principals and faculty trust in those principals. Findings indicated that principal learning-centered leadership was significantly and positively related to faculty trust in the principal.

Academic Optimism

Academic optimism was developed in 2006 as a latent concept that provides insight into the improvement of student outcomes especially for those who, because of socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and other demographics, have historically been labeled as underperforming. The three main components of academic optimism (academic emphasis, collective emphasis, and faculty trust) underscore the reality that the teachers, parents, and students all play a critical role in the education arena when it comes to ensuring that students fully grow and stretch to the fullest extent possible. High academic optimism in a school suggests that academic achievement is valued and supported; the faculty has the capacity to help students achieve; and students and parents can be trusted as partners of the school for student achievement. Each of these can be controlled by the actions and decisions of school leaders and faculty so that schools can overcome the effects of poverty on student achievement.