Learning to Trust in a Time of Mistrust

Turn on the news, scroll through a feed on social media, or listen to a public conversation and a common thread emerges. Doubt. Doubt about what we are reading or watching or listening to. Doubt about what leaders are saying. Doubt about how the same event or speech can be communicated in such a contrasting manner. 

Meanwhile, our young people come to school with questions about what is going on in the world. What is the truth? Who should I believe? Should I be scared? Who do I trust?

Teaching has always required trust. Trust in the teacher. Trust in the school. Trust in the content that is being taught. The classroom should be a place where trust matters, where fairness matters, where student voices matter, and where questions matter. Making sense of the world is a part of learning, and school is a natural place for students to engage in sometimes-difficult discussions. 

In many ways, what is happening throughout our country and our world today stands in contrast to what is possible in a classroom or in a school where trust is a critical component. Our schools could and should be places where students learn to be critical and empathetic thinkers, able to listen to the concerns of others who have different lived experiences. Students should be able to civilly discuss issues and respond to questions which impact them today and in their future. 

It doesn’t start in high school. It starts with our youngest students and builds from there.

Teachers can embed trust through discussions about literature or current events using intentional questions. Students feel trusted when their questions, opinions and viewpoints are validated during discussions. Even our youngest students can explore difficult ideas with no “right” answer, looking at an issue from a different perspective, one that students might not have previously considered. Classrooms can be places where students listen to understand, where initial opinions can change through honest discussion, and where trust is built when being exposed to different viewpoints. These moments are not accidental. They are purposefully created by educators who understand the importance of questions, discussions, and reflective conversations with no “right” answer.

But this can be difficult for some educators who worry that a complaint could result in disciplinary action. In such an environment, teachers may choose caution. But when teachers ignore difficult conversations something else is lost. Students lose opportunities to practice active listening, to grapple with new ideas or opinions, and to realize that ‘we can agree to disagree.’

When our classrooms are safe places for students to discuss important issues that impact their lives, we are  giving them something meaningful to take with them: trust. In a world that feels divided and chaotic and where conversations become loud and confrontational, classrooms can model something different: a place where people listen to understand, where disagreement can be civil, and where trust is built by listening to others. 

It is what our world needs today.