A majority of Americans view elementary school teachers as highly honest and ethical, rating them second only to nurses in a new poll of public trust in various occupations.
Sixty-one percent of respondents to the nationally representive Gallup survey of 1,000 adults, fielded Dec. 2-18, said they would rate the “honesty and ethical standards of grade-school teachers” high or very high. Seventy-six percent said the same for nurses.
The annual poll shuffles a list of professions, asking about a portion of them each year. Elementary teachers, typically included every three or four years, consistently rank among the most trusted professions, along with nurses, those in the military, pharmacists, and doctors.
The findings come as educators face political headwinds that threaten teacher morale: declining budgets, political debates about discussions of race and sexuality, and a push for private school choice. Seven out of 10 teachers believe the public holds a negative view of their profession, according to the EdWeek Research Center’s State of Teaching survey.
Professions falling at the bottom of the 2024 ratings: the media, members of Congress, car salespeople, and lobbyists.
Trust in elementary school teachers is high, but it has declined
“This fits with the broader context of what we’ve seen through COVID,” when helping professions like teachers and first responders saw a surge of support in 2020, followed by a gradual return to previous levels in the poll, said Lydia Saad, the director of U.S. social research at Gallup.
Seventy-five percent of respondents rated the honesty and ethical standards of elementary school teachers as high or very high in 2020. That number has since declined to its lowest level since Gallup began including elementary school teachers in the poll.
Trust in teachers has declined in the time since—alongside ratings of every other profession included in the poll and confidence in U.S. institutions in general. Twenty-nine percent of respondents to a separate Gallup poll last June said they had a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in public schools.
Fifty-three percent of respondents rated trust of high school teachers as high or very high in 2022, the most recent year they were included in the poll.
Responses to questions about teachers may be informed by respondents’ experiences with public schools, concerns about pandemic-era shutdowns, or a whole host of political or social factors, Saad said.
It’s also possible that respondents who are parents may rate their own children’s teacher more highly; in a separate annual poll conducted by Gallup and PDK International every August, parents consistently rate their own local school system more favorably than public schools in general.
What trust means for teacher morale
That public trust is a positive for school and district administrators concerned about motivating and supporting teachers, but it’s not enough to alleviate concerns about stress, burnout, and teacher turnover, said Leigh McLean, an associate research professor of education at the University of Delaware who studies how teachers’ emotions and attitudes affect their work.
“We know that teaching is largely viewed in the public eye as feminine care work, and most teachers do go into the profession because they genuinely care about the future of children, so it makes sense that the public would view teachers as trustworthy,” McLean said.
But in a sense, that view discounts the high knowledge and skill demands of the job. In addition to ensuring the safety and well-being of their students, elementary school teachers must employ expansive expertise to differentiate lessons, adapt to students’ individual needs, and teach across subject areas.
“The public may trust teachers as humans, but we don’t respect them as professionals in their field,” she said. “Viewing teaching as care work really negates the most important aspects of the profession.”
Principals and district leaders can motivate teachers by giving them agency and flexibility to demonstrate that professionalism, and by highlighting the expertise involved in their work for parents and the public.
“We know that teachers care, but we need to focus on the true skill that teachers apply in the classroom,” McLean said.
