Relational Trust and Coherence Grant Application Figures

Research to date is rich in its claim that practice development in schools, and the leadership and professional learning that it demands, requires relational trust. However, reasonings for, and understandings about, relational trust are described mainly in general terms, leaving its complexity and multidimensionality implicit. Much trust research in schools has focused on principals, neglecting fulsome characterisations of relational trust as it is engendered in practices by middle leaders often responsible for leading school-based professional learning. The job of the research and it's image series is to illustrate and address an empirical void in expositions outlining the intricacies of relational trust.

In collaboration with celebrated Australian SciComm organisation Miscible, Griffith University commissioned a figure to illustrate the five kinds of Relational Trust found in the workplace, and their supporting components. As part of the figure a series of isometric hero images were created to convey the abstract concepts underpinning the five relational trust types in an eye-catching way to secure further research funding for the team at Griffith, in which they were successful. A further fifteen bespoke icons were created to illustrate a selection of the further abstract concepts underpinning the five types of relational trust. Science Communication, or SciComm, is about taking complex ideas and breaking them down to be accessible for a general audience and stakeholders of a variety of non-technical backgrounds. I typically then package deconstructed illustrations and icons to ensure the end product can be reused across multiple platforms and contexts.

• Molly Patton — Producer