Situated within the current complex climate of public education in the United States, in this autoethnographic case study, the relational aspect of trust as a characteristic of servant leadership within the principal-teacher relationship was investigated. Examining the role that trust played in improving a school's culture and how trust was established and maintained among one principal and the teachers whom she supervised was explored. Data sources included weekly reflections, a questionnaire, and email artifacts. Leadership practices were examined through the lens of Tschannen-Moran's five faces of trust. Teachers gauged their level of trust in their leader, rating her servant leadership characteristics. Results indicated the five faces of trust were apparent in this school leader. Based on characteristics and actions that led to trusting teacher-principal relationships, teachers tended to trust her as a leader to a high degree. Overarching themes included leader openness, leader competence and professionalism, leader benevolence, and leader's high regard for teachers.
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In the past 25 years, public education in the United States (US) has shifted and evolved. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, in a very real sense, US public schooling has been reinvented. Public education in the US has experienced many shifts from its beginning as an initial opportunity only allowed to White males of means and privilege when the US was first established. Later, US public education was a segregated system for almost a century (Plessy v Ferguson, 1986) until the passage of Brown vs the Board of Education (Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954), moving to a more inclusive and all-encompassing endeavor as a means to educate the populace and instill civic pride and further demographic principles. However, from 2000 to the 2020s, public education in the US has undergone a commodification and commercialization (Portfilio, 2011; Schneider, 2014; Shannon, 2003) that has narrowed curriculum, restricted teachers, and has had a profound impact on the role of leadership in US public schools. Lack of teacher voice and commodification has also resulted in a serious teacher retention issue within US public schools (Milner, 2013).
Historically, the goal and mission of public schools in the US was as an enterprise to freely educate the masses (Carnoy & Levin, 1985) despite historical evidence that this same history paints a portrait and provides a narrative of denied access for many citizens and certain segments of the US general public. In the 20th century, the denial to educate all illustrates the experiences of segregated members of US society, denying certain members the opportunity of obtaining a public education (Cubberley, 1919). A pioneer US educator, Horace Mann (1796-1859), known as a reformer and politician from Massachusetts, instituted the notion that “education should be universal, non-sectarian, free, and that its aims should be social efficiency, civic virtue, and character, rather than mere learning or the advancement of education ends” (Cubberley, 1919, p. 167). Mann championed the conceptualization of Normal Schools to train teachers, encouraging the Common School Movement which advocated for children to be socialized to be citizens (Groen, 2008). This concept of public schools as a mechanism to create, nurture, and maintain a democratic society was also fostered by Dewey’s (1903; 1922) Progressive Educational Movement, which emerged at the turn of the 20th century in the US (from 1888 to 1929). Dewey (1903; 1915; 1922) advocated for critical citizenship through public education.