ABSTRACT
The most crucial ingredient in working with young people is trust-this applies whether in a school context or not (Smyth et al. 2004). Ironically, it seems to be the very ingredient that is in desperately short supply in relation to institutional learning in schools, and even worse, it appears to have been supplanted by distrust, disrespect, and even hatred. These may sound like harsh words, even ones that might be uttered in white rage, but they are not. These are ideas that have their genesis in a long period of frustration around the way in which educational policy has forced educational administration and leadership literally to its knees (Smyth 1989), requiring it to take on a fake mantle (Smyth 2008).
