When trust breaks down in education systems

Trust is an important but complex ingredient of good governance and education reform. Existing literature has explored the nature of trust and the ideal ‘virtuous cycle’ of continuous trust building. However, much less is known about the more common phenomenon – when trust breaks down and is followed by attempts to restore and sustain it. In order to supplement the established literature on the topic, short trust briefs were collected from a variety of OECD countries. Each brief explored examples of how trust in education systems broke down and was (potentially) restored. This chapter discusses current research on trust and how it might pertain to education policy and reform. It synthesises strategies to restore and sustain trust observed across the briefs. The four main strategies may be broadly categorised as: stakeholder engagement, capacity building, accountability and strategic thinking.