Trust and accountability are often positioned as opposites, the argument being that accountability is based on distrust and correction of identified deficiencies. Yet, trust is also important in order for accountability to lead to improvement; only when teachers and principals are open about the quality of their teaching and their school can there be a meaningful discussion about change. How can we overcome this dilemma? This paper will address the inextricable interaction between trust and accountability, presenting examples from a study in South Africa of how external control in a setting of distrust can undermine agency and improvement, and how high levels of trust can promote more effective accountability relationships. Our study provides relevant insights into why some education systems are unable to generate, evaluate and scale innovations in learning when a lack of trust and capacity leads to strong opposition to external accountability, and when strong bureaucratic accountability creates further inefficiencies in pressurizing educators across the education system to report and monitor on various aspects of education where these efforts do not actually improve the quality of teaching in the classroom or provide information on good practices.

中文翻译：

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问责制和信任：同一枚硬币的两个方面？

信任和问责制通常被定位为对立面，认为问责制基于不信任和对已识别缺陷的纠正。然而，信任对于问责制带来改进也很重要；只有当教师和校长对他们的教学和学校的质量持开放态度时，才能对变革进行有意义的讨论。我们怎样才能克服这个困境？本文将讨论信任与问责之间密不可分的相互作用，展示了南非一项研究的例子，说明在不信任的情况下外部控制如何破坏代理和改进，以及高水平的信任如何促进更有效的问责关系。我们的研究提供了有关为什么某些教育系统无法产生、