Learning to Trust : Transforming Difficult Elementary Classrooms Through Developmental Discipline

"Page by page, Watson's riveting documentary teaches us what it truly takes to leave no child behind."
— Chip Wood, cofounder, Northeast Foundation for Children

"With test scores predicting no human virtue one might name, surely it is past time to bring back the guiding narrative for our schools we apparently have forgotten: the education of the young for responsible citizenship and leading a good life. Not only does Marilyn Watson tell us, particularly teachers, how the necessary education might take place, she focuses on the most neglected young learners and ignored teachers of a democracy that presumably stands for equal educational opportunity and justice for all."
— John I. Goodlad, president, Institute for Educational Inquiry, Seattle, Washington

"Caring educators who have ever questioned the importance of nurturing a teacher-child relationship will find Laura's journey both insightful and moving. A must read for all educators facing the challenge of teaching children in the twenty-first century."
— Karen M. Smith, principal, Mark Twain Elementary, Brentwood, Missouri

"In Learning to Trust, Watson,s account of one inner-city teachers experiences highlights the importance of nurturing caring and trusting relationships in the classroom. Her understanding of child development and her recommendations for effectively implementing 'developmental discipline' make the book a practical and powerful tool for all educators."
— James P. Comer, Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry, Yale Child Study Center and associate dean, Yale School of Medicine

Faced with increasing numbers of children who are difficult to manage and the pervasive presence of high stakes testing, many teachers feel frustrated and compelled to reduce their attention to building relationships with and among their students and their focus on social and ethical development. In Learning to Trust, an educational psychologist and a classroom teacher collaborate to demonstrate through an in-depth case study of an inner-city classroom the power and importance of caring, trusting relationships for fostering children's academic growth as well as their social and ethical development.
Marilyn Watson explains and describes the ups and downs of Laura Ecken's classroom through the lens of attachment theory, while Laura describes in vivid detail the ongoing life of her classroom, revealing throughout her challenges, thoughts, fears, failures and successes. Together they explore a fundamentally new approach to classroom management and present many practical strategies for helping all children develop the social and emotional skills needed to live harmonious and productive lives, the self confidence and curiosity to invest wholeheartedly in learning, and the empathy and moral understanding to be caring and responsible young people.

Marilyn Sheehan Watson has worked for more than two decades with teachers, teacher educators, and education researchers to effectively promote children's social, moral, and intellectual development. As program director of the Developmental Studies Center's award-winning school change effort, the Child Development Project, and as director of the center's national Teacher Education Project, she has been instrumental in defining education that has children's basic developmental needs at its heart.

Laura Ecken has shared sixteen thoughtful years with the elementary school children of Louisville, Kentucky. She is one of the teachers we never forget.