In the field of secondary-level English as a Second Language (ESL), the ESL teacher (ESLT) works together with the Content-area teacher (CAT), building-level administrator and ESL coordinator to meet the learning needs of English Language Learners (ELLs). This ESL network depends on the collegial relationships of those comprising it. With this in mind, the purpose of this study was to locate, and make transparent, elements of the relationships between ESL teachers and colleagues in a K-12 setting, allowing for a richer investigation of the qualities of collaborative relationships. Further, this study intended to make theoretical contributions by drawing together a number of authors' work focusing on trust, collaboration, and mediating issues of power. These works included Sztompka's (1999) Sociological Theory of Trust (STT), the collective works of D'Amour, San Martin-Rodriguez, Beaulieu, and Ferrada-Videla (2005) on the Structural Model of Inter-professional Collaboration, and Carspecken's Interactive Typology of Power relations (1996) in an attempt to develop a theoretical model of how trust between colleagues emerged in education, specifically within the ESL setting. In my literature review I outlined the literature on the teaching profession and in particular the literature on the ESL teaching profession. This literature, in short, revealed a trend in deprofessionalizing teachers, while at the same time adding requirements. This is specifically problematic for ESL teachers, who tend to be stigmatized even by other teachers. I collected data in a variety of ways throughout this project. I conducted interviews, focus groups, traditional observations in a wide-variety of settings within the school, and shadowflections; a type of interview/observation, which I explain as an emergent method in my methodology chapter. I used a modified version of a constructivist grounded theory approach for collecting, analyzing, and reporting the qualitative data for this study. In this approach, I used emergent and theoretical analysis. From these analyses, I conclude with implications based on my hybrid grounded theory of trust, suggestions for future pathways on ESLT and CAT collaboration in secondary schools in the United States, and overarching programmatic concerns and suggestions for preparing future educators. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]