Interactional Trust for Coaching

Interactional trust is a core prerequisite for effective instructional coaching. Such trust fosters respect and understanding, allowing coaches and teachers to work as true partners,  Interactional trust establishes the foundation for open communication and collaboration.
 
Interactional trust has at least three components: Capability trust, Confidence trust, and Communication trust. Let’s unpack each of these important aspects.
 
Capability Trust
 
Working together effectively requires relying with confidence on another person. Capability trust is built as we work shoulder to shoulder. Capability trust is two-way. Teachers trust our ability and capacity and we trust theirs. A teacher is open to working with a coach who they view as caring, and they are open to ideas from a coach they view as knowledgeable and credible.
 
Conversely, effective coaches trust the teacher to have insights about her own needs and those of her students. We respect teachers’ knowledge, skills, abilities, and judgement. Asking teachers to make decisions rather than telling them what to do is an encouraging approach that exhibits trust in the teacher’s ability. We also build capability trust as we affirm. Through affirmations, coaches build alliance with teachers. Validation builds emotional capital. Capability trust creates a positive, trusting climate for coaching interactions.
 
Confidence Trust
 
Confidence trust is a feeling of assurance and dependability. When coaches build confidence trust, teachers feel confident that the coach will act in their best interest. They are assured that the coach is on their side. Our colleagues can be sure of us when we are consistently generous in our assumptions about their efforts.
 
Confidence trust is built through honoring agreements, through showing up as expected, through being consistent. To build confidence trust, coaches need to set appropriate boundaries for themselves and others so that everyone involved can realistically do what they say they’ll do. We can be generous while managing expectations.
 
Communication Trust
 
Coaching connections are built through open conversation. Honest and constructive dialogue is possible only when communication trust exists. When communication trust is created, teachers can be transparent about their needs and goals, and coaches can provide candid feedback without it being misinterpreted as criticism. Where there is communication trust, colleagues develop an understanding of each other’s views, strengths, and needs.
 
Communication trust creates a safe space for teachers to share challenges, admit uncertainties, and take risks in their teaching practices without fear of judgment. They are more likely to experiment with new strategies and learn from failures.
 
Communication trust is fostered through sharing information, telling the truth, admitting mistakes, maintaining confidentiality, and speaking with good purpose. Open questions and listening sustain this trust.
 
Interactional Trust
 
Building and sustaining capability trust, confidence trust, and communication trust helps teacher-coach interactions thrive. Coaches are more likely to be sought as trusted colleagues with the assurance of interactional trust.

 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Help students overcome stereotypes by connecting with real people through stories:
 

https://www.middleweb.com/51484/inspiring-understanding-using-personal-stories/

Photos sure to spark interesting conversations (and attention to detail):
 
https://brightside.me/article/100-best-photographs-without-photoshop-46555/

 

Breaking grammar rules to teach them:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/breaking-grammar-rules

 
ABC’s of Effective Coaching:
 
https://twowritingteachers.org/2018/08/02/the-abcs-of-literacy-coaching-reminders-for-the-start-of-a-great-year/
 
 
A shared text experience for adolescents:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/first-shared-text-fishing-for-many-meanings-with-adolescents/
 
 
That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!
 
Want more coaching tips? Check out my book, Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner, available from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! You can use the code: NOV2024 for 20% off. Click  here  and I’ll email you the free Book Group Study Guide that includes questions, prompts, and activities you can use as you share the book with colleagues.  I hope you’ll love this book as much as I loved making it for you!