VULNERABILITY IN THE CLASSROOM: INSTRUCTOR’S ABILITY TO BUILD TRUST IMPACTS THE STUDENT’S LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Shannon Huddy
Sierra Nevada College
ABSTRACT
Emotional vulnerability and undergraduate business courses are two concepts not
typically associated with each other. In the traditional classroom, PowerPoint presentations can
detract from eye-contact, the podium creates a physical distance between the students and
instructor, and lesson plans crowd out classroom time for students and instructors to have
meaningful and spontaneous dialogue. Yet, one of the most effective ways to build trust is through
displaying emotional vulnerability and connecting human to human (Brown, 2010; Lapidot, Kark,
& Shamir, 2007).
Since trust building is valued within the workplace, one could argue that college
instructors should model and utilize techniques to build trust within the classroom to prepare
students to emulate this behavior when they are in the workforce. This study uses the social,
political, economic, legal, intercultural, and technological (SPELIT) environments, called the
SPELIT model, and the Kruger Iceberg Change (2011) model to analyze the impacts of changing
a traditional college culture to one that implements more vulnerable teaching techniques
(Schmieder-Ramirez, & Mallete, 2007).