Do we understand one another? Establishing trusting collaborations between researchers and school practitioners

Trust is a crucial foundation for the success of collaborative projects involving school-university partnerships. Establishing trusting collaborations is therefore an integral part of the work between researchers and school practitioners. Nevertheless, it is often overlooked. In this article, I analyse collaborations between a research team and leadership teams at seven schools engaged in school improvement projects. I do so by comparing two different approaches to establishing collaborations and fostering trust. The article draws on leader interviews, survey data, and observations of meetings. The analysis highlights three key aspects in efforts to establish trusting collaborations: (1) the alignment of expectations, (2) the complexity of the activities that practitioners are asked to engage in, and (3) how theory is translated into practice. The findings provide guidance on how to manage uncertainty and frustration in both voluntary and imposed collaborations. I argue that paying attention to these three aspects can help researchers establish trusting collaborations with practitioners.