To say that trust is broken across the spectrum of public education is an understatement. From communities, to administrators, teachers, students, and politicians, every move to fund, improve and deliver learning is scrutinized with distrust. Effectiveness in learning dwindles. For that very reason, at Thriving Leaders Collaborative, LLC, PEOPLE ARE OUR PURPOSE!
According to the Gallup Organization, trust is the quality most desired in leadership (Tom Rath, Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow, Gallup, 2008, pp. 82ff.) Trust expects reliability, dependability, consistency, effort, vulnerability, and a commitment to ethical behavior.
Thriving Leaders Collaborative, LLC, is stepping into that fray of broken promises to deliver these expectations by means of trustworthy knowledge, tools, and strategies to those most marginalized by the broken trust in our schools. Our partners in this intentional rebuilding of trust in education will be school administrators, educators, students, their families, and community members. Every service we provide will intentionally build trust relationships and action plans based on the strengths and resiliency already present in our stakeholders. Our strategists are authentic, experienced educators who will deliver what we promise and will work with our clients to reach the much needed goal of successful academic achievement for every student.
School turnaround depends on trust in creating a new, more effective atmosphere for learning that develops and nurtures relationships. We believe in TLC’s experienced, effective school turnaround strategies and are committed to be fully present as we lead a disciplined plan for transformation.
Schools in low SES neighborhoods have also experienced distrust with their communities as the effects of poverty’s impact on learning have not been remediated. Our strategists will provide research-based teaching skills based on the latest finding from the neurosciences to build the learning brains of our students.
Too many children in our schools have suffered adverse childhood experiences through abuse, neglect, and loss. Trust has been broken before the student enters the classroom. As often is the case, the harm came from someone close the child trusted. TLC strategists will deliver classroom skills that will enrich the building of relationships with traumatized children who act out or withdraw. Instead of punitive discipline we offer multiple ways for a student to regain control of their lives, both emotionally and academically, while teaching them to be accountable for the decisions they make.
According to the Gallup Organization, successful teams talk very little about trust because relationships trump competence in building trust. At TLC we look forward to helping build lasting relationships among our education partners because trust is the very foundation on which leaders thrive.
Sylvia E. Fuentes