Unlike many current approaches, this book looks at trust relations in order to understand schooling and other social practices. Trust relations include both what an individual is prepared to trust in the circumstances, and what a competent practitioner in an evolving tradition should trust. It is therefore considered whether trust relations are more fundamental in society than those of truth or power.

Schooling has a social, as well as an education, role. As a result, the scope of the trust relations under investigation must range beyond the pedagogical. By expanding our understanding of the trust relations required to create and maintain effective schooling in particular circumstances, it may be possible for a greater section of society to receive a good education. Issues including curriculum, classroom management, and community relations may be understood in a different way and help enable currently intractable problems to be tackled more effectively.

This book presents the initial investigations of a number of authors who collaborated on this project and was originally published as a special issue of the journal, Educational Philosophy and Theory.