La construction de relations de confiance au sein des équipes-écoles d’établissements en milieu autochtone du Québec selon les perceptions de leur direction

Résumé : La gestion des ressources humaines dans les écoles situées au sein de communautés autochtones est marquée par différents enjeux d’ordres social, culturel, ethnoculturel, économique et administratif qui impactent les pratiques de leurs directions. Ceux-ci touchent à tous les aspects de la gestion des écoles et peuvent être révélateurs d’un malaise dans l’encadrement des actrices et des acteurs à travers des structures administratives, juridiques, éducatives ou de gouvernance qui comportent des défis relationnels et interactionnels majeurs. Ce type de malaise peut moduler les actions des actrices et des acteurs des établissements et peut entrainer des impacts dans leurs relations, notamment au niveau de leurs relations de confiance, essentielles à la qualité de leurs actions communes. L’approfondissement de cette problématique porte essentiellement sur les conditions associées à la construction de la confiance qui sont de différents ordres, c’est-à-dire contextuel, institutionnel, organisationnel, relationnel ou individuel. Utilisant une approche qualitative, cette recherche repose sur vingt-trois entrevues semi-dirigées avec des directions d’établissement provenant de dix-sept communautés et de trois nations autochtones différentes. L’analyse est menée à partir d’une approche exploratoire constructiviste et interprétativiste. Les conclusions permettent de dégager que la construction de relations de confiance entre des actrices et des acteurs sont tributaires de conditions dans lesquelles s’inscrivent des dynamiques interactionnelles particulières. Influencées par le contexte autochtone singulier, ces conditions sont préalables aux actrices et aux acteurs ou associées à leurs comportements, attitudes, actions ou pratiques. Il apparait que ces dynamiques s’inscrivent dans une configuration des équipes-écoles se caractérisant par six catégories-types d’individus qui se déclinent selon leur origine et leur appartenance ou leur identité ethnique, à savoir les voyageurs autochtones et allochtones, les étrangers autochtones et allochtones et les natifs autochtones et allochtones. La meilleure compréhension de cette organisation conduit à une conception large de la configuration des dynamiques interactionnelles entre des individus et des groupes et entre des communautés d’individus. Ces individus s’affilient spécifiquement selon des identités ou des appartenances individuelles ou de groupe qui peuvent être de différents ordres soit particulièrement, mais non exclusivement, ethnique, linguistique, familial ou se rapportant à des croyances particulières.

Abstract : This research studies the dynamic of building trust relationships between actors in schools that are located in Aboriginal communities. This dynamic is studied based-on school administrators’ perceptions, according to their observations of their school team and the environment, their professional practices, their professional and life experiences and the meanings that they attach to them. The study can be considered as a global approach in order to provide a better understanding of the context of school management and school administration in an Aboriginal context. In order to conduct this study in this particular environment, a specific focus lied on the examination of the conditions that lead actors to build or not to build trust with others. On the one hand, the concern of this research relied on the particular Aboriginal context that is characterized by social, cultural, ethno-cultural, economic or administrative issues, where the effective execution of the roles, responsibilities and duties of directors and school administrators appears complex. This complexity particularly concerns the impact of these issues on human relations and personnel management. On the other hand, this study was based on the idea that trust between staff members could have the potential to tinge these relationships. Trust might even be considered as key to optimal education management, to a climate that leads to efficient work, and therefore, to the students’ success. Specific research objectives are the better understanding of the dynamics of trust within school teams at schools located in Aboriginal communities, namely: 1) the analysis of interviews with principals of indigenous schools in light of the conceptual framework; 2) a cross-sectional analysis that allows to determine the conditions that contribute to building trust relationships within their school team; and 3) the proposal of models that suggest various elements that help to understanding the dynamics of building relationships of trust, when seen from different perspectives. These objectives led to the choice of a qualitative research methodology with a constructivist and interpretativist epistemological position. This research is also of an exploratory nature, using semi-structured interviews. Twenty-three principals from seventeen communities and three different Nations were interviewed. The thematic data analysis of the collected material permitted to point out that building trustworthy relationships and modulating relationships of mistrust between actors with heterogeneous characteristics depend on various conditions. Under the influence of the singular Aboriginal context, these conditions that determine how trust relationships are built are anterior to the actors, or associated with their behaviors, attitudes, actions or practices. It seems that these dynamics are context-related to a singular organization of school teams. They can be characterized by determining six categories of individuals, according to their origin and their affiliation or their ethnic identity: indigenous and non-indigenous travelers, indigenous and non-indigenous foreigners and indigenous and non-indigenous natives. Providing a better understanding of this organization leads to a broader conception of the possible configurations of the organizational culture of schools in Aboriginal communities: the configuration of interactional dynamics between individuals and groups (intracommunity dynamic of individuals), and between individuals and communities (intercommunity dynamic of individuals). Specific affiliations exist among those individuals, depending on their identities or on individual or group affiliations. In particular, but non-exclusively, these affiliations are ethnic, linguistic, family, or they are related to particular beliefs.