At the Heart of Family Learning: What it takes to rebuild trust

Trust has been called “a community’s most valuable competitive asset”. It is a fundamental tenet of what it means to exist as part of something larger than ourselves and is vital to the creation of thriving neighborhoods, strong schools, and healthy workplaces. But I remain intrigued by what I continue to hear from the voices across the country that both trusting relationships and trust in systems are eroding in the United States. 

This is not a new phenomenon; it’s one I wrote about most recently in March of this year when I was joined in conversation by Frederick Riley, Executive Director of Weave: The Social Fabric Project at the Aspen Institute. It’s also one that came up during the Reagan Institute Summit on Education (RISE), which I had the chance to attend earlier this month. But the trickle of information we were hearing back in March about the breakdown in trust has since become a flood. Pew Research has noted falling levels of trust between Americans, with a recent poll showing that only 34% of respondents said that “most people can be trusted”. That dovetails with other recent results showing low levels of trust in media and other institutions, with trust and satisfaction with public schools recently reaching record lows.

This matters because trust is not just a “nice to have”. Trust is foundational to learning. It’s what brings people into schools and adult education programs and makes it possible for them to persist. It’s what builds the partnerships between parents or adult learners and educators on which academic success is built. But trust breaks down when people are told one thing and experience something different. 

When school districts say that family voice matters, but families experience engagement that feels more like a box-checking, compliance exercise rather than a true means of gathering actionable input, trust erodes. When families express the barriers that are making attendance or achievement difficult, from transportation to food insecurity and more, and feel ignored or dismissed, trust erodes. When education providers recruit adult learners and then fail to address the unique needs of those learners, including flexible scheduling and streamlined career pathways, trust erodes.

Once trust erodes within a learning environment, it takes purposeful effort and intentional action to rebuild. That’s why, as schools return to session across the country and students and adult learners return to classrooms, educators and administrators must ask themselves: do children, parents, and adult learners trust the education systems that serve them? If the answer to that question is anything other than a resounding yes, then there is work to be done.

Building–or rebuilding–trust with families starts by listening: sitting down knee to knee with families, discovering their experiences, asking questions, and letting the conversation itself be your guide. But listening is only the first step. 

We recently asked educators from across the country, “If you could give one piece of advice to a new educator or practitioner about building trust with families or community partners, what would it be?” Their responses, which are detailed below, make clear that trust is less about any one action and more about the ways we show up in relationships over time.

Across their answers, four broad themes emerged: authenticity, integrity, respect, and sustainability. Educators emphasized the importance of being genuine, flaws and all; following through on commitments and being honest about what is and isn’t possible; recognizing the knowledge, experiences, and expertise that families bring to the table; and understanding that trust flourishes through sustained interaction, not one-time effort.

Authenticity

• “Building trust requires being open about your own stories and flaws. No one will share their own experiences in an authentic way if you aren’t sharing your own in an equally authentic way.”
• “Be authentically you. People can tell when you are genuine or playing a role. My programs trust me because they know I’m genuine. Empathy is also incredibly important.”
• “Take time to have meaningful conversations; this is where ideas are truly shared.”

Integrity

• “Walk the walk; don’t just talk the talk. Do what you say you will do. If you can’t, take ownership, communicate why, and describe what you will do about it.”
• “Be honest and transparent, respond to communication from families in a timely manner, and seek information from them.”

Respect

• “Communicate with parents in a way that makes them feel that they belong, celebrate their strengths, and always practice positive intent.”
• “Often, new educators are young and don’t yet have children of their own. I would try to drive the point that ‘parents are sending us their very best students’ and try to help new educators see and understand the level of care, love, and pride that parents feel towards their children. Understanding that and keeping it in perspective when talking to parents about their children and making decisions together will be of great help.”

Sustainability

• “I would say that it is essential that you build processes for sustainability into your programs as you develop them so that you lower the risk of prematurely terminating programs that families want and need. This means defining systems, sharing amongst staff, evaluating and responding to data, and actively seeking funding.”
• “When leaders and families advocate together for program efforts this builds a pathway for trust which leads to sustainability.

I hope these insights from educators working on the ground with families provide a roadmap for you as you consider how to nurture trust in the work you do learners of all ages, across learning contexts. Building community, working alongside partners, and engaging learners is the pathway to building trusting relationships that produce positive outcomes and lasting impact.  I also hope you’ll consider joining us at the 2026 Families Learning Conference for the chance to learn from practitioners, researchers, and education leaders across the country about how to create the conditions that make it possible for children and families to flourish and achieve their education and workforce goals.