Cultural Ways of Building Professional Trust

As an international school mathematics teacher, I (Sarah) dealt with a lot of parents from different cultures. Sometimes I became annoyed with the parents of my students who wanted to frequently come in to school to meet with me. I wanted to answer their queries by email or phone because it was faster and more efficient; meeting in person felt like a waste of my time when I could be creating good experiences for their children in the classroom. Then I started learning about how different cultures build trust. 

There are two main ways professional trust is built: through relationships and through competence. I’m from a background that focuses on competence–I trust others who are well qualified and have a good history of delivering results. This means I thought parents should trust me because I’m an experienced educator with a specialism in mathematics education and a great track record with student progress. Many Canadians, Americans, and Brits build trust based on competence. 

On the other hand, many parents of my students were from Asian cultures, where trust is built on relationships. Face-to-face meetings build trust because they want to interact and feel the warmth and care from teachers. Conversations in which ideas are shared and connections are affirmed make the most difference in building trust. 

After I learned this, I started scheduling and suggesting meetings with many more people, especially the Asian parents of my students. Knowing it was a way to build trust meant it was one of the most valuable uses of my time.

If you’re an educator from a competence-based trust culture, like me, you might employ face-to-face communication more often with Asian parents. After a good connection is built, then emails (with a warm tone) and phone calls become a great way to communicate. Small talk with Asian parents can cover more personal topics than you may be used to, such as their family’s habits and hobbies or an item of clothing they are wearing that you find beautiful or interesting.

What if you’re an Asian educator, like Flora? When parents from Western cultures approach you, perhaps you could choose to use email or phone calls as a communication tool more than you naturally would. Topics of conversation that are professional make better small talk than personal ones–such as asking someone how long they have worked at the school or in this role and what they enjoy about the projects they work on.

Are you someone who feels professional trust based on competence or relationships?

How might you connect with those from the other end of the scale?

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