If Building Trust Is Important, How Do We Teach Novice Evaluators to Do It?

Building trust with stakeholders is essential for conducting meaningful evaluation work. This practice note describes an instructional activity developed to help novice evaluators learn to build and maintain trust with stakeholders, and illuminates key pedagogical aspects to aid evaluation educators in using or adapting this learning activity. Relevant literature is reviewed before describing why trust is the focus, the learning context in which this activity was developed and enacted, and the learning activity itself The practice note concludes with a discussion of four critical ingredients that are central to this learning activity and implications for evaluation teaching, learning, and research.