Discernments of Trust and Vulnerability Points During a Literacy Improvement Process

This case study examined within school trust discernments and vulnerability points at one school during a whole-school literacy improvement process, grounded in sociocultural features and principles, from the perspective of the principal, the curriculum coach, and the teacher leaders. The results suggest that participants introduced trust discernments consistent with Tschannen-Moran & Hoy’s (1998, 2000) five facets of trust construct. However, trust discernments that were introduced by administrators and teacher leaders related to different types of trust and proved to be connected to issues that supported or hindered the improvement process. The findings highlight the dynamics of the relevance of trust discernments over time and across activities and reveals vulnerability points that emerged during certain phases of the literacy improvement work.