“I don’t know what you think you can teach me that I haven’t already tried.”
I still remember those words.
My first few months as a coach were far from easy. Many of the teachers I was assigned to support were sceptical of my role and did not believe that I could help improve their instructional practice nor their students’ learning. In hindsight, I believe part of their hesitation stemmed from the fact that I was younger than many of them and had fewer years of teaching experience, which may have affected my credibility in their eyes.
I vividly remember working with one experienced teacher who had 23 years of teaching experience. During one of our first meetings, she looked at me and said, “I don’t know what you think you can teach me that I haven’t already tried.” Given the significant difference in our years of experience, I could understand why she questioned what I could offer. At that moment, I realized that my greatest challenge would not be helping her teach mathematics conceptually; it would be earning her trust. Instead of immediately focusing on instructional strategies, I intentionally invested time in listening, understanding her concerns, and building a genuine professional relationship.
Rather than immediately offering instructional strategies, I chose to listen. I wanted to understand her concerns, learn about her students, and build a genuine professional relationship before suggesting changes to her practice. That experience taught me a lesson I have carried throughout my career: whether we are coaching faculty, mentoring new instructors, leading professional learning communities, or supporting curriculum redesign, our success depends less on our expertise than on the quality of the relationships we build.
Expertise Doesn’t Automatically Create Credibility
Many instructional leaders assume that expertise alone establishes credibility. It certainly helps to have strong disciplinary knowledge and effective teaching practices, but these are rarely enough. Educators are professionals with deeply held beliefs about teaching. When someone enters their classroom as a coach or consultant, they often wonder:
- Is this person here to evaluate me?
- Will my weaknesses be exposed?
- Do they understand my teaching context?
- Can I trust their intentions?
These questions are often unspoken, but they shape every coaching conversation.
Rather than trying to demonstrate my expertise, I decided to spend time listening. I asked about my colleague’s challenges, her students, and what she hoped they would learn. I resisted the temptation to offer immediate solutions. Those conversations gradually shifted our relationship from guarded to collaborative. Only then could meaningful coaching begin.
Trust Comes Before Instructional Change
As our relationship developed, the teacher became increasingly willing to invite classroom observations, reflect on her instructional decisions, and experiment with more conceptual approaches to teaching mathematics. The instructional improvements did not happen because I introduced better strategies. They happened because she felt psychologically safe enough to examine her own practice. Research consistently shows that effective coaching depends on trust. Teachers and faculty members must believe that feedback is intended to support growth rather than judge competence (Zepeda, 2019). When that belief is absent, even well-designed coaching initiatives can become compliance exercises instead of opportunities for professional learning.
Five Ways Instructional Leaders Can Build Trust
Looking back, several practices made the greatest difference. These lessons apply equally well to teacher leaders, department chairs, instructional designers, and academic leaders.
1. Listen Before You Lead
Resist the urge to diagnose problems during your first meeting. Spend time learning about instructors’ goals, challenges, and experiences. Listening communicates respect far more effectively than offering immediate advice.
2. Separate Coaching From Evaluation Whenever Possible
Faculty are much more likely to engage honestly when they know conversations are confidential and developmental rather than evaluative. Be explicit about your role and the purpose of your feedback.
3. Acknowledge Existing Expertise
Experienced educators bring years of practical wisdom. Coaching should build on that expertise rather than suggest that previous practices were inadequate. Position coaching as collaborative inquiry instead of expert consultation.
4. Demonstrate Consistency
Trust develops through repeated interactions. Following through on commitments, maintaining confidentiality, and providing thoughtful feedback consistently over time strengthens professional relationships.
5. Celebrate Small Wins
Meaningful instructional change rarely happens overnight. Recognizing incremental progress reinforces confidence and encourages instructors to continue experimenting with new approaches.
Professional Learning is Relational Before Structural
Higher education institutions often invest significant time and resources into professional learning initiatives: faculty learning communities, mentoring programs, peer observations, and instructional coaching. These structures are valuable, but they cannot compensate for a lack of trust. Too often, institutions focus on designing programs without paying equal attention to creating the relationships that allow those programs to flourish. Faculty may attend meetings, complete observations, and participate in workshops while remaining reluctant to discuss genuine instructional challenges.
Professional learning becomes performative rather than transformative. My experience as a coach taught me that meaningful professional learning begins long before discussing pedagogy or curriculum. It begins when educators believe they are respected, heard, and supported.
Trust is a Leader’s Most Important Responsibility
My coaching experience also changed how I think about instructional leadership. While principals, department chairs, deans, and faculty developers are expected to lead professional learning, their most important responsibility is not simply organizing workshops or introducing new initiatives. It is creating the conditions in which educators trust the learning process and those leading it.
Too often, professional development is experienced as something done to educators rather than with them. Trust changes that dynamic. When leaders invite educators to identify their own learning needs, contribute to professional learning priorities, and participate in shaping solutions, professional learning becomes a shared journey instead of another initiative to implement.
This lesson is particularly relevant in education systems where ministry or institutional priorities often determine professional development agendas. Although leaders may not control those priorities, they have considerable influence over how they are enacted within their schools or institutions. They can build trust by creating opportunities for dialogue, valuing educators’ expertise, and demonstrating that professional learning is a partnership rather than a mandate.
Building trust also requires leaders to protect time for what matters most. Administrative responsibilities will always compete for attention, but teaching and learning remain the core business of education. When instructional leaders consistently make time for classroom conversations, coaching, mentoring, and collaborative reflection, they signal that professional growth is a priority rather than an afterthought.
Stephen Zepeda (2019) offers three questions that every instructional leader should regularly ask:
- Do educators trust me?
- Do they have confidence in my actions?
- Do my words and actions align?
These questions remind us that trust is earned through consistency, transparency, and genuine respect, not through position or authority. When I first met that experienced mathematics teacher, I believed my role was to improve instruction. Looking back, I realize my first responsibility was much simpler and much harder. It was to build a relationship in which another professional felt respected, valued, and safe enough to learn alongside me. Only after that foundation was established did coaching become effective. Whether we support new faculty, facilitate communities of practice, mentor colleagues, or lead centers for teaching and learning, the lesson remains the same: instructional strategies matter, but relationships matter first. Trust is not simply one characteristic of effective coaching; it is the foundation on which meaningful professional learning and lasting instructional improvement are built.
Shellon Samuels-White is a passionate, results-oriented educator and curriculum specialist, currently serving as a lecturer in the Faculty of Education and University Assessment Officer at The Mico University College – Jamaica. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Teacher Education and a Master of Arts in Education, specializing in Curriculum and Instruction. Her research interests are centered on curriculum/school reform, 21st-century teaching methodologies, and the interrelationships between curriculum, instruction, and assessment. She is particularly passionate about integrating social-emotional learning into the curriculum to promote holistic development.
As an assessment officer, Samuels-White’s role includes promoting quality teaching and learning experiences by promoting valid and reliable assessment practices. She provides academic assessment guidance and supports institutional quality assurance. Her work supports both students and educators in achieving meaningful teaching/learning outcomes while upholding institutional standards. Committed to advancing curriculum studies and instructional design, she continues to explore progressive teaching models that foster student engagement and success. Through her work, she remains dedicated to fostering an inclusive and transformative education system.
Reference
Zepeda, S. J. (2019). Professional development: What works (3rd ed.). Routledge.