We included 10 schools in this study. Because we deliberately sought to approximate the wide range of independent schools this small sample would attempt to represent, the schools' settings, size, demographics, and location varied widely. We looked for what was common to all these schools, and to delineate replicable practices that might be useful to other schools with high academic expectations and an interest in more deliberately supporting the ethical development of students. Not surprisingly, all our findings relate to deliberate efforts to build trust within the school culture. Less predictably, each of these findings supports a genuine examination of "truth" — of true relationships and true learning — as essential to trust building. This quest involves everyone in these schools, and promises to produce the "knowledgeable, compassionate citizens and effective leaders within a rapidly transforming world" espoused in the NAIS Best Practice: Educating for Global Citizenship.
Given the skeptical-at-best stereotype of today's adolescents, building trust might seem a formidable undertaking. Yet, consistently, the schools we were fortunate enough to visit during this study were alive with enthusiasm and joy. Far from feeling daunted by their task, the teachers, faculty, parents, and trustees with whom we met seemed on fire about the mission and promise of their learning environment. Likewise, we spoke to scores of young adults who — while sharp and sophisticated, well traveled, and well read — rarely came across as cynical. Many described their learning experiences as deeply meaningful and look forward to leveraging this learning to contribute to a better world.
The 10 key findings emerging from this project clearly arise from this commitment to trust and truth seeking.
I: CROSS-CUTTING DIMENSION
Attention to values and ethics permeate these learning environments at both the adult and student levels. The "how we do things around here" of their school's organizational culture clearly stems from, and telegraphs, a platform of shared ethical values. However, while all the adults we met were clearly committed to promoting ethics and values, many of them could not point to a poster or recite an official "code of ethics" for their school. Their seamless, natural, and earnest efforts to seek "the good" help students internalize this lifelong quest. "I would say very few of our teachers see a distinction between ethics and education in their own subject or sport or area of activity," one teacher commented. "It's interwoven. It just comes through in everything you do."II: DRIVER AND CONNECTOR
Across these schools, higher-order thinking skills are emphasized and deliberately linked to the moral realm. Values and ethics undergird critical thought by connecting "the personal" to the more academic topics and concepts. "One way to describe the role of ethics, I guess, is as a link to reality," one faculty member mused. Deep critical thinking and learning take place as students are encouraged to articulate and test their true perceptions of the world, forming and defending authentic opinions. "We want these critical-thinking skills raised to a conscious level" another teacher explained, "...how to communicate, how to think, and how to discern. It pervades the culture that everyone has a voice and an analytical mind...."III: FUELING RELATIONSHIPS
The perceptions and opinions students volunteer will only be authentic in an environment where they feel trusted and can speak their minds. Students in these schools develop trust through strong relationships with people who are committed to honest self-examination and try to model this quality in all their interactions. "At [my previous] public school," one student explained, "it's kind of an 'us/them' situation — here it's just 'us.'" Another student remarked, "Teachers here aren't afraid to talk.... They've really helped me develop a conscience. I can hear a voice in my head [saying], 'He wouldn't do this.'"IV: CULTURE OF OPEN FEEDBACK
For adults to build these strong, successful relationships with students, the same high levels of trust must permeate faculty relationships. In the majority of these schools, teachers are clearly empowered to be bold learners. They speak their minds without reprisal, take different tacks without rebuke, take risks with support, and take feedback or criticism as an expression of caring. "We really try to be who we say we are." said one teacher. "We address issues, and if we can't, we find a process to address them." Specific practices to support a culture of open feedback include faculty meetings and other traditional settings devoted entirely to "speaking your mind," or focusing entirely on "what's working?" This means frequently returning to the question: "What's being taught and why is it relevant? What else needs to be taught? What is no longer needed?"V: TRUSTEES AS KEEPERS OF THE MORAL COMPASS
If there is a source from which trust most effectively evolves in a school, it may be from the body bearing the name — the trustees. Despite being mostly behind-the-scenes, in several cases, participating schools' trustees described their primary role as developing and sustaining the trust level of the school. The importance of schools in teaching life lessons and furthering lofty ideals and principles — and the capacity of their particular school to do this successfully — is the predominate reason these trustees say they invest their time and energy this way. Indeed, several admitted to being alumni who were kicked out of their schools for various ethical lapses in their youth. This is precisely what leads them, later in life, to want to serve that school. As one trustee put it: "You talk to alums, and they don't talk about academics. They talk about this."VI: TONE AT THE TOP
Throughout these cultures, the ethical actions, decisions, and communication of the school head are noticed and appreciated. Heads obviously have an enormous opportunity to set the priorities and tone of the school — and a daunting responsibility to do so. The school leaders who view deep learning as life's primary enterprise build commitment to ethics and values in everything they do. Commenting on the school head at a rural boarding school, a teacher remarked, "I've watched him. His ethics just filter down to the whole staff." We asked about how these priorities get telegraphed. "Every closing ceremony, every speech, he talks about how there's a privilege, an obligation to help others," one teacher explains. "They're challenged to go out and make a difference." Another faculty member notes that "the leader is key. He's in the dining hall, at the events participating." Are speeches and participation at school functions enough to set the focus on building trust and on upholding values and ethics? We also noticed a strikingly consistent disinterest in — put simply — hierarchy in the descriptions of heads of these exemplary schools. As one faculty member put it, the head is "not into authoritarian stuff at all. [There's an] effort to help people understand that power doesn't come from position." The head of an urban day school explained, "When I started out, I thought I had to be in control of everything. Now I get joy in watching people grow and make decisions." A student at another school observed, "Instead of checking if you're following the rules, he asks about your day."VII: TOLERANCE FOR AMBIGUITY
Is trust conveyed simply through incantation of a philosophy? Not in these schools. Specific codes of ethics and values may or may not be articulated, but heads and other adults in the environment model and live "trust." This applies not just in the interpersonal realm, but in the realm of instruction. Across all the schools we studied, leaders, teachers, and students demonstrate a common zeal for new intellectual territory. While critical thinking discussions often go in unpredictable directions, faculties embrace this as an opportunity instead of shying away. In other words, teachers dedicated to truly participating as learners in their school community welcome the chance to discover alongside their students. As one faculty member at a suburban boarding school put it: "There's an acknowledgement that this work we're doing is unbelievably messy." They trust the collaborative process; they trust that they'll sometimes get stuck and that they'll constantly have doubts; and they trust their personal ability and their students' ability to think things through and to see things through. The result may not always be neat or even clear, but remains preferable. As one administrator commented, "I used to say I came from a black-and-white to a gray culture, but, in fact, it's so colorful!"VIII: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FROM THE RANKS
In many of these schools, teachers are expected to trust their professional judgment and to share it, just as they expect students to contribute their very best perceptions, opinions, and understanding. These educators readily build on colleagues' or students' learning in a creative synergy, rather than feeling competitive or defensive. "You're rewarded for creative thought," one teacher said, "just like you reward students." Another added, "Everyone gets to feel what it's like to be a teacher-leader at one time or another. We feel thrilled about being able to bring [a colleague] along, just as you would a student. We have friendships that cross lines — cross academic departments, cross age groups...."IX: AUTHENTIC STUDENT INPUT
In the schools we visited, teachers and other adults naturally and expertly welcome serious student input in a variety of aspects of the school community. They trust their students' ability to make good decisions. Faculty and administration often go to students first in forming plans and strategies for their school. This is done thoughtfully, with attention to the balance between authentic roles for students and a respect for their development. Jobs and decisions are not casually foisted on youngsters so that adults can wash their hands of responsibilities. Students are carefully placed in positions of authority with adults ever present in the wings, and students do not become scapegoats if things go awry. "The key element of the school is that kids have ownership and are really listened to," a suburban boarding school student remarked. "You also have all the room in the world to succeed, and to fail." At an urban day school a student notes, "Because it's a student-run system, everyone really respects it."X: GROWTH, NOT PUNISHMENT
Disciplinary approaches are the most consistent area of student input across these schools. Students are trusted to educate, rather than punish, fellow students who have broken the rules. The judicial group recommends consequences to fit the crime, and students in several of these schools are asked to design creative community service-type activities that ensure the message hits home. Consistently, those interviewed describe these student roles as highly lauded and sought-after positions, and the student election as a process that generally works. That is, students elected are not necessarily the most outgoing or popular, but they tend to have reputations of high personal responsibility. Adults and students have similar explanations for this phenomenon. When facing a judicial board, students really want reasonable people listening to their case. They need people of integrity, not necessarily friends.These common findings provide new and deepened understanding about building school cultures of integrity toward the ultimate goal of graduating ethical students. At this year's NAIS Annual Conference in Denver, IGE presented the first steps in follow-up research — tools for sizing up a school based on these findings, for determining starting points in building cultures of integrity and for practical skill building in ethical reasoning and other realms of ethical literacy. Clearly, this is only the beginning of much to be discovered about how we can support the ethical development of adolescents in independent schools. IGE looks forward to this positive discovery process. Just as one teacher we interviewed remarked about their school culture, "continual evolution is a crucial part of who we are."