Teachers are some of the kindest, most altruistic and smartest people on the planet yet they create some of the most claustrophobic and toxic cultures within which to work. Not with the children, but with one another. Why is this? How is this? What are the impacts? And, crucially, how do we resolve it?

Ofsted, accountability, funding, workload and societal difficulties have led to a response in many schools that is fear based, generating staff cultures that affect teacher wellbeing and are leading to large numbers leaving the profession. This impacts not only staff morale and wellbeing but also has a highly detrimental effect on teacher performance and the outcomes for pupils and students. This book examines what underpins these patterns and sets out a practical model for embedding a trust-based culture in all schools.

Drawing together four key psychological concepts, the book explores what a trust-based culture looks like and the conditions that are needed for this to develop. It looks at the paradoxes that lie in how staff create harmonious and collaborative cultures and the practical steps that are needed to create a culture where staff that crave and give open, robust feedback are pro-active, learn from failure and have the ability to thrive through challenging questions.

Providing a comprehensive blueprint for schools to follow, this is essential reading for school leaders and thinkers who want to create a rich, healthy environment where collaboration, creativity and excellence in teaching and learning can flourish.