Trust: Foundation to Passion‑Driven, Student‑Activist, and Community‑Engaged Learning

Abstract This chapter describes and reflects on active and engaging practices of an early childhood, upper elementary, and middle school teacher in three rural Maine schools, all graduates of a nondepartmental, interdisciplinary educator preparation program focused on investigating and improving the relationships between humans and their natural and social environments. Culturally responsive, democratic, developmentally appropriate, emancipatory, experiential, and place‑based education inspire their professional practice. Each co-author illustrates examples of active and engaging practices, including student participation in curricular co‑design, novel experiences, student choice, inquiry, and authentic, place‑based education. Across each of these cases, the authors identify trust as a foundation to their practices that also integrate global phenomena like climate change, international food systems, and human‑caused air, soil, and water pollution. These cases illustrate how trust underpins teacher autonomy, school and community support, student choice and collaboration in curriculum design, and community engagement to challenge, activate, and support student engagement and learning.