Abstract
In recent years, partnerships between schools and non-system actors, that is, cross-sector alliances, have become increasingly important in education systems around the world, raising concerns and doubts regarding the influence of non-school actors in educational management and leadership. In these debates, trust is regarded as a key element for the success of cross-sector alliances. Although both trust and cross-sector alliances have been increasingly studied in education research in recent years, an investigation of the role of trust in such relationships is still missing. This article analyzes relational trust in cross-sector alliances in education in order to contribute to further theory building. To this end, it implements a qualitative design based on semi-standardized interviews with 21 individuals responsible for managing an illustrative cross-sector alliance. Interviews are analyzed with the help of an approach based on Grounded Theory. The analyses result in a five-dimensional theory of trust in cross-sector alliances, comprising (1) individual attitude, (2) time, (3) professional affiliation, (4) power, and (5) multiplexity. The theoretical approach developed in this article has practical implications for networked leadership and school principals’ work and training as it provides information regarding the skills and knowledge needed for managing cross-sector alliances.
Highlights
Over recent decades, partnerships between schools and non-system actors, that is, cross-sector alliances (CSAs) such as charter schools, have increasingly emerged in education systems worldwide, fostering collaboration1 between actors from formal education and non-formalEducational Management Administration & Leadership 0(0)education (Eyal and Yarm, 2018; Yemini and Sagie, 2015)
To decipher relational trust in educational CSAs, this section presents the results of the analyses according to the five identified dimensions of relational trust in CSAs and relates these to each other as a means of theory development
The data were reanalyzed according to these facets, and it was found that they emerged as recurring themes with reference to individual attitudes
Summary
Partnerships between schools and non-system actors, that is, cross-sector alliances (CSAs) such as charter schools, have increasingly emerged in education systems worldwide, fostering collaboration between actors from formal education (e.g. schools) and non-formalEducational Management Administration & Leadership 0(0)education (e.g. administration, politics) (Eyal and Yarm, 2018; Yemini and Sagie, 2015). Education systems around the world are increasingly held accountable for improvements in education (DeStefano and Moore, 2010; Verger et al, 2020) They respond to these expectations by initiating and supporting networks of actors from different education sectors, that is, CSAs (Glazer et al, 2019; Lubienski and Perry, 2019). As Townsend (2015) notes, such collaborations promote hybrid forms of leadership, arising from the quest for participation on the one hand, and the aspiration for inter-group, networked leadership on the other This pursuit of both leadership and participation is combined with the general necessity for such interactions to develop trust between the actors involved
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