ABSTRACT
Across western society we are seeing a decline of our once great institutions. Australia, like the UK and the US, could once be proud of its education system, but now they cry shame each year PISA results are published.
In an attempt to arrest the decline of our once great schooling system, successive governments have legislated policy after policy to standardise the system, gather data, and hold schools to account. These attempts have been in vain, results either continue to decline, or at best, stagnate.
It is no coincidence that there is a correlation between a decline in trust in our western society and a decline in educational standards. The less we trust our schools and the profession of teaching the less likely it will be that our education system will ever improve.
The case is evident for trust, but how is it achieved? This chapter presents ten key practices that can be learned by any person in a leadership position to build a culture of trust, right from the highest levels of government to the person on the ground entrusted to deliver an education worth having.
