Module 3: Building trust in schools through open-to-learning conversations
High levels of trust in schools promote students' social and academic progress. This module describes how leaders build trust through their ability to deal with difficult issues in respectful ways.
Overview
This module provides learning support materials that will help you to reflect on and develop your skill in using open-to-learning conversations (OLC) in difficult interpersonal situations. It contains:
- a background paper that explains why open-to-learning conversations are important, and how to do them
- a video presentation by Professor Viviane Robinson about open-to-learning conversations (duration 19 minutes)
- the PowerPoint presentation that Professor Robinson uses in her video.
These resources have been developed for use by individual school leaders. They have not been designed for use in staff professional learning sessions.
About Professor Viviane Robinson
Viviane Robinson is a Professor of Education at the University of Auckland. She is an organisational psychologist, specialising in school improvement, leadership, and the relationship between research and the improvement of practice. Viviane has authored five books and numerous chapters and journal articles. Her work has been published in such leading international journals as Educational Researcher, Educational Administration Quarterly and Review of Educational Research.
She is passionate about conducting research that makes a difference to practice. Her best-selling book, Practitioner Research for Educators: A guide to improving classrooms and schools, is based on her experience teaching teachers how to do research that is both rigorous and relevant to their job situation (Robinson, V.M.J. & Lai, M.K., Corwin Press, 2006).
Viviane is also Academic Director of the University of Auckland’s Centre for Educational Leadership, which delivers the First-Time Principals Programme (New Zealand’s national induction programme for school principals), in addition to a development programme for experienced principals and a full schedule of research-based seminars and workshops. She was honoured by the Australian Council of Educational Leaders by being invited to deliver the William Walker Oration and given the 2007 Headley Beare award for educational writing. In January 2008, she was also honoured by the New Zealand Secondary Principals Association for her outstanding contribution to educational leadership. In 2009, the United States-based University Council on Educational Administration awarded her the prestigious William Davis award for her scholarship on the relationship between educational leadership and student outcomes.
