Trust in Finland is a prominent word utilized by educators, researchers, professors, and parents when describing their educational system. Trying to understand the depth behind the meaning of this word is perseverating in my brain, turning it around again and again in an attempt to make a connection. I reflect on our own teaching practice and question why this important component of trust is so difficult to come by at home. When exactly did it leave our profession and most importantly how can we bring it back?
As an educator for over twenty-two years, I still remember in the beginning how my students’ families and administrators trusted the work we did. The thanks and the appreciation that came with the hard work, dedication, and love was poured back into our teaching practice. Yet at some point trust began to wan. Did it start at that one IEP back in the days when it was handwritten when I made a simple date error? Obviously, I had spent hours collaborating with colleagues and advisors spending valuable time preparing this IEP draft collating all of the collected data and was excited to share the progress that had been made. I had always met with parents on a regular basis, but this family were not available to meet with me prior to the meeting. Their daughter had such significant needs that the family had made the difficult decision to have her live in a home that provided her with continual care. When the family came to the meeting they took the time to visit with their daughter and I so enjoyed observing their interactions. At the IEP I remember so clearly the dad getting mad and threatening litigation because one of the dates was written incorrectly. An innocent mistake on my part for which I had profusely apologized, but there was no trust, this one small mistake had turned into something much bigger. I think back to that time now and wish the more experienced Robyn could have been aware of how vital trust was and made subtle changes based upon this concept so that trust was not missing from what is always a collaborative experience.
Over the past 8 years, I have treasured my decision to return back to the classroom. After over a decade working in a class for students with disabilities and then a move to the University setting for five years, I had missed the connections with my students and their families and decided to come back to my students. I relish advocating for children, educating parents and colleagues on best practices, and pouring my heart and soul into being a team member for our students.
Despite this passion and dedication I do this work like so many of my hard-working colleagues without trust. Is it the distrust of the parents of the programs we are providing for their children? Or perhaps it’s the lack of trust from the hierarchy that is so ingrained in our educational system? Previously I had attributed my frustrations to others having an absence of knowledge on what is truly involved when working with students with such intensive disabilities. However, maybe it’s our deep-rooted cultural norms where those in charge who have never been, or who are no longer in the classroom, dictating steps to be taken in terms of educating our children. Does this mean, as teachers we can’t be trusted?
In Finland the teachers are trusted. They are trusted to take the knowledge they learned in graduate school and implement it. They are highly respected professionals allowed and expected to be autonomous in their actions. They are trusted to follow through and provide the education necessary for children to learn. Parents trust their teachers as valued professionals and when the teachers make a suggestion or recommendation parents trust that the teachers know that they are doing everything possible to support their child. Trust: the Finns have this while we have multiple barriers that roadblock this pathway of trust.
Changing our fixed culture is an undertaking that this redhead, though incredibly stubborn, recognizes is not realistic. So small steps must be taken to bring trust back into our practice. For me, it’s going to have to be subtle changes in my practice to bring trust to our programs because even though I want to make bigger changes, hypocritically I do not trust that more significant shifts are capable of being implemented within our current educational system. As I write this, I find myself deleting my own personal “trust action plan” because I am concerned that the part of our educational hierarchy that doesn’t understand our work will balk at what I want to do, due perhaps to their limited experience on this global perspective of trust. So I am asking you to trust me. Trust that I know what I am doing when it comes to the education of students with special needs. I wonder, what do you think trust could look like for you?
