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.