Trust: The Foundation of a Good Classroom

Trust is a key element in any classroom. Daring to learn something new also invites the possibility of failure. Failure can be responded to in a few different ways. The one who failed can be shamed. This is obviously not constructive. The one who failed can also be educated. It is possible to turn a failure into a chance to acknowledge the shortcoming and redirect to a better perspective. Trust grows out of this kind of interaction.

I know that when I was a student, I never wanted the rest of the class to think that I hadn’t done my work or didn’t know what I was talking about. I was naturally willing to participate in discussions when I felt confident that my answer was more or less the right one. However, there were some teachers who were able to draw me out more so, and they did it because I felt free to explore. I knew that if I was wrong, they were not going to embarrass me. Instead, I could even express things I didn’t understand because, by doing that, they would actually direct me towards the right answer. In a way, it was actually helpful to be vulnerable with the teachers I trusted. I got more out of their classes because they made it an environment that encouraged inquiry.

Trust is difficult to build and easy to destroy. For some, it only takes one betrayal of that trust, and they are never going to open up again. I think that might be one of the weirdest challenges facing educators right now, especially in higher education. By the time many students reach the university level, they have learned how to put forward a perfectly shiny public image on Facebook and Instagram. They understand that their images need to be maintained and protected or the tower crumbles. They know that there are some things that they just can’t say because it might be unpopular, inappropriate, or controversial.

A university classroom is a perfect place to express those views. It ought to be a place dedicated to inquiry, and the professor ought to make every effort to try to create an environment where there is openness to understanding. Again, this takes a great deal of trust.

The professor is only one part of this equation, though, because this environment also relies on the other students. There has to be a degree of trust between classmates; no one wants to be ostracized for expressing a view that goes against the norm. This was handled well in both of my online graduate programs. Both of them were Christian programs, but students spanned a variety of denominations. Despite these differences, we were able to discuss even denominationally specific topics. I had a series of great discussions with a friend of mine who is the Calvinist while I am most certainly not, for example. We had to trust each other enough to know that we were not going to hate each other at the end of the conversation. The professor can only do so much in establishing a class environment. There is a level at which the students need to get on board with the professor’s vision and allow intellectual exploration to take place.

I know that this is a difficult atmosphere to cultivate in our current public square that is built upon a desire to call out and shame those who disagree with us. We utilize social media to ruin people’s lives when they make one controversial post on Facebook. The professor ought to resist the temptation to do this in the classroom. Professors must seek to be countercultural. Professors ought to create an environment of trust. This level of trust encourages the development of authentic conversations. When conversations get to this level of reality, opportunities will emerge to try to steer people toward the good, true, and beautiful. This perspective should not be viewed as a surrender by any means. This is not me advocating for people to remain trapped in bad ideas and evil worldviews. Instead, I am encouraging professors, with the unique platform they have the privilege of possessing, to create a space where education can actually take place. When a bad idea comes forward, the professor has the opportunity to acknowledge that idea while simultaneously proposing a better way to view the world.

This is a much more difficult exercise than simply shouting down people that we disagree with. It is also risky because the professor might not be able to change every mind. That being said, hearts are changed by other hearts. When I open up my heart to you, not only do I trust you, but I have ascribed a level of value to you. As a professor, you have a room full of students who will hopefully be willing to open their hearts to you and be taught by you. Do not destroy the vulnerability they are extending to you. Teach them if they are willing to be taught. If you do that, you have done more to change the world than you ever would have by shouting them down or shaming them. Shame only causes them to keep their same ideas and just believe those things in private. Light is a disinfectant, but the door needs to be open for the light to come in. Trust opens the door.