Teaching with Trust
Creating Space for Learner Agency and Connection
Will be published approx. on 18. August 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
176 pages
979-8-3309-0825-7 (ISBN)
Description
An educator's guide to transforming learning environments into communities built on radical trust, empathy, and connection
Teaching with Trust is a professional resource that provides clear support on how to build learner-centered, trust-based communities in your classroom or school. Many educators want to foster student agency and build authentic relationships but lack concrete tools and relatable models to do so. Drawing on author Carissa Solomon's classroom-tested strategies, this book bridges the gap-it explains the philosophy behind learner-centered education and offers a clear path for transforming school culture with empathy and connection.
Whatever your school setting or role, Teaching with Trust shows you how student empowerment and agency can help students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. Practical guidance and authentic examples show how to put these ideas into practice. This framework can help you make learner-centered education a reality.
Discover strategies for promoting connection, student agency, and self-direction
Learn from authentic examples demonstrating learner-centered education in diverse school settings
Engage families in understanding learner centered practices
Shift toward learner-centered cultures at the school or district level
Increase student autonomy and provide personalized learning
Whether you are an administrator looking to empower teachers or a teacher looking to make a shift within your classroom, Teaching With Trust provides the support you need.
The book supports diverse student populations by emphasizing equity, voice, and learner agency. It is particularly beneficial for educators working in culturally responsive classrooms and with neurodivergent learners, emergent bilinguals, and students experiencing trauma. Strategies are developmentally appropriate and designed to foster belonging and personalized growth.
Teaching with Trust is a professional resource that provides clear support on how to build learner-centered, trust-based communities in your classroom or school. Many educators want to foster student agency and build authentic relationships but lack concrete tools and relatable models to do so. Drawing on author Carissa Solomon's classroom-tested strategies, this book bridges the gap-it explains the philosophy behind learner-centered education and offers a clear path for transforming school culture with empathy and connection.
Whatever your school setting or role, Teaching with Trust shows you how student empowerment and agency can help students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. Practical guidance and authentic examples show how to put these ideas into practice. This framework can help you make learner-centered education a reality.
Discover strategies for promoting connection, student agency, and self-direction
Learn from authentic examples demonstrating learner-centered education in diverse school settings
Engage families in understanding learner centered practices
Shift toward learner-centered cultures at the school or district level
Increase student autonomy and provide personalized learning
Whether you are an administrator looking to empower teachers or a teacher looking to make a shift within your classroom, Teaching With Trust provides the support you need.
The book supports diverse student populations by emphasizing equity, voice, and learner agency. It is particularly beneficial for educators working in culturally responsive classrooms and with neurodivergent learners, emergent bilinguals, and students experiencing trauma. Strategies are developmentally appropriate and designed to foster belonging and personalized growth.
Reviews / Votes
"Teaching with Trust is a timely and deeply human call to reimagine education through radical trust and learner agency. Carissa Solomon weaves research, lived experience, and practical strategies into a compelling vision for shifting learning environments away from compliance and toward deeper connection and real-world purpose. Both an invitation and a roadmap, this book equips educators to restore possibility and joy to learning." -- Em Liebtag, Ed.D.,Chief Innovation Officer, Education Reimagined "Teaching with Trust?is grounded in joy, equity, and the belief that every learner can-and should-have agency over their education. Carissa Solomon invites readers into a conversation about the power of learner-centered schooling, and her rich array of stories and examples demonstrate what's possible when we educate from a place of radical trust. Solomon isn't just imagining a possible future; from the micro level of shifting classroom culture and practices to the macro level of adapting broader systems to support autonomy and growth across the schoolhouse,?Teaching with Trust?provides strategies, resources, and an invitation to step back so learners can step up." -- Jennifer D. Klein, Speaker, Facilitator, and Coach; CEO,?Principled Learning StrategiesMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Teacher Created Materials, Inc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
US School Grade: From Kindergarten to Twelfth Grade
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
full-color
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 184 mm
Thickness: 9 mm
Weight
363 gr
ISBN-13
979-8-3309-0825-7 (9798330908257)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
"Carissa Solomon is the author of Teaching with Trust: Creating Space for Learner Agency and Connection. She is a veteran educator with over fifteen years of experience teaching in public, charter, and private schools. She was the Lead Educator and Adult Learning Designer at Embark Education, a learner-centered micro middle school in Denver, Colorado. At Embark, Carissa helped establish and continuously refine a school model grounded in student agency, authentic learning, and radical trust. She led professional development workshops for educators, school leaders, and policy-makers, and regularly presented at national conferences including SXSW EDU, AMLE, and Big Picture Learning. Carissa is currently a literacy teacher at Denver Green School Northfield, an innovative middle school in Colorado.
Carissa holds a B.A. in Philosophy and History from The George Washington University, an M.A.?in Philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Secondary Teaching Licensure from Chestnut Hill College. Her writing and facilitation are rooted in the belief that educational environments should empower every learner by centering connection, relevance, and autonomy.
"
Carissa holds a B.A. in Philosophy and History from The George Washington University, an M.A.?in Philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Secondary Teaching Licensure from Chestnut Hill College. Her writing and facilitation are rooted in the belief that educational environments should empower every learner by centering connection, relevance, and autonomy.
"