The Effects of Work Environment on Junior High School Teachers’ Sense of Trust and Leadership Skills

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine the influence of work environment on the relationship between junior high school teachers’ self-trust and trust of others and their leadership skills. 349 junior high school teachers answered a questionnaire and the results showed that teachers’ feeling of trusting others and themselves promoted more active counselling behaviors. On the other hand, distrust in self and in others increased the tendency to watch students quietly and wait for change to occur. Three patterns of teacher’s sense of trust were categorized based on the strength and the balance of trusting feelings: “naturally trusting,” “trust conscious,” and “confident with distrust conscious.” If the workplace is perceived to be collaborative, all teachers tend to intervene in student problems actively regardless of the state of their feeling of trust for self and others.