Nienke M. Moolenaar

Relationships in reform: The role of teachers' social networks

Purpose: Scholars have focused their attention on systemic reform as a way to support instructional coherence. These efforts are often layered on to existing social relationships between school staff that are rarely taken into account when enacting reform. Social network theory posits that the structure of social relationships may influence the direction, speed, and depth of organizational change and therefore may provide valuable insights in the social forces that may support or constrain reform efforts. This study aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach: This mixed‐methods exploratory case study examined five schools within one under‐performing school district as it enacted a system‐wide reform. Quantitative survey data were collected to assess social networks and teacher work perception of five schools enacting the reform. Qualitative data were gathered through individual interviews from educators within representative grade levels as a way to better understand the diffusion and implementation of the reform. Findings: Despite being enacted as a system‐wide reform effort, the results suggest significant variance within and between schools in terms of reform‐related social networks. These networks were significantly related to the uptake, depth, and spread of the change. Densely connected grade levels were also associated with more interactions focused on teaching and learning and an increased sense of grade level efficacy. Practical implications: The findings underline the importance of attending to relational linkages as a complementary strategy to the technical emphasis of reform efforts, as social networks were found to significantly facilitate or constrain reform efforts. Implications and recommendations are offered for leadership, policy and practice that may support the design and implementation of reforms, which may ultimately increase student performance. Originality/value: The study makes a unique contribution to the reform literature by drawing on social network theory as a way to understand efforts at reform. The work suggests that the informal social linkages on which reform is layered may support or constrain the depth of reform.

A Social Network Perspective on Teacher Collaboration in Schools: Theory, Methodology, and Applications

An emerging trend in educational research is the use of social network theory and methodology to understand how teacher collaboration can support or constrain teaching, learning, and educational change. This article provides a critical synthesis of educational literature on school social networks among educators to advance our understanding of the embeddedness of teachers in the social context of schools. It focuses on how researchers currently use a social network perspective as a theoretical lens and methodology to frame studies on teacher collaboration in schools. Building on exemplary findings of recent studies, it shows that the pattern of social relationships among teachers may significantly enhance our understanding of the ways in which teacher collaboration takes place and contributes to student learning, teachers’ instructional practice, and the implementation of reform. Finally, limitations and future directions in the conceptualization, measurement, and analysis of school social networks are indicated.

Social networks in education: Exploring the social side of the reform equation

The importance and potential of social relationships have long permeated educational practice and research. Educational researchers, practitioners, and policy makers are more and more recognizing the potential of social networks in pursuit of increased instructional quality and student outcomes, as well as overall systemic improvement. In the United States, as is true in other countries, efforts at improving educational systems commonly consist of a variety of technical fixes including structures, processes, and accountability policies. Yet, while the more technical side of the change equation has been well documented, there is less evidence of the social aspects of the reform equation. In addressing this gap, we have assembled a collection of studies that foreground the relational linkages between and among educators at different levels of the system in an effort to better understand the role of relationships in teaching, learning, and educational change. In change efforts, educational leaders and teachers typically play key roles in disseminating reform-related information, understanding and implementing

Toward Conceptual Clarity: A Multidimensional, Multilevel Model of Professional Learning Communities in Dutch Elementary Schools

Despite the popularity of professional learning communities (PLCs) among researchers, practitioners, and educational policy makers, studies on PLCs differ significantly on the dimensions and capacities used to conceptualize them. Further, the interrelatedness of different dimensions and capacities within PLCs is not often well conceived nor examined in terms of learning at multiple (individual, team, school) levels. In an effort to address this gap, this study assesses the multidimensional, multilevel nature of PLCs using data from 992 teachers from 76 Dutch elementary schools. Findings indicate that professional learning communities within elementary schools can be conceptualized and assessed by 3 strongly interconnected capacities that are represented by 8 underlying dimensions. This conceptual structure empirically emerged as equivalent at both the teacher and school levels. By providing increased insight into the multidimensional, multilevel nature of the concept of PLCs, this article aims to add conceptual clarity to the study of PLCs in elementary education.

Why So Difficult? Exploring Negative Relationships between Educational Leaders: The Role of Trust, Climate, and Efficacy.

Recent work suggests the importance of collaboration among district-office and school leaders. Most studies examine prosocial relationships, but negative social ties, which may be more consequential, are rarely examined. We collected survey data from 78 educational leaders on perceptions of culture and negative relationships and used social-network analysis to examine the likelihood of leaders forming negative relationships. Findings indicate that “senders” of negative ties tended to be district-office leaders, who often reported higher efficacy and perceived less trust, whereas “receivers” of negative ties were more likely to perceive more trust and have been employed in the district longer.

Mapping the Social Side of Pre-Service Teachers: Connecting Closeness, Trust, and Efficacy with Performance.

Abstract This exploratory study foregrounds the important, but often understudied social side of pre-service teacher development and its relation to teaching performance in one university-based teacher preparation program in the US. We examine the extent to which pre-service elementary teachers’ social relationships and perceptions of peer trust and efficacy are associated with performance on a high stakes mathematics teaching assessment. Findings suggest that social and emotional support through close social ties, peer trust, and self-efficacy are significantly and positively associated with pre-service teachers’ teaching performance. Our work further contributes to the development and discourse about teacher education in university-based teacher preparation programs.

Share and succeed: the development of knowledge sharing and brokerage in data teams’ network structures

Abstract The data team intervention was designed to support Dutch secondary schools in using data while developing a solution to an educational problem. A data team can build school-wide capacity for data use through knowledge sharing among data team members, and knowledge brokerage between the team and other colleagues. The goal of this mixed-methods study is to understand how knowledge sharing and brokerage regarding data use and an educational problem changed over time. Social network data were collected twice at eight schools. These data were used to analyse (1) how well team members were connected with each other (density), (2) whether team members’ relationships were mutual (reciprocity) and (3) whether all team members were equally important for the data team network (centralisation). Moreover, different types of knowledge brokering (inward, outward and forward) were examined to further understand knowledge exchange between data team members and their colleagues. Qualitative data were analysed to triangulate these findings for four particular cases. Among other things, findings illustrated that while knowledge sharing and knowledge brokerage both changed over time, there were considerable differences between teams in the extent and direction of change. It appeared that the dissemination of knowledge within the organisation requires more explicit attention.

Teachers’ informal feedback seeking towards the school leadership team. A social network analysis in secondary schools

Abstract Teachers’ feedback seeking is considered as important for their professional learning. This study aims to investigate which school leaders are sought out for informal feedback by teachers and what leadership characteristics might influence this choice in secondary schools in Flanders, Belgium. Data from 436 teachers of 14 secondary schools are used for social network analysis and multilevel regression analyses. In these schools, the average size of the leadership team is eight, consisting of principals, assistant principals and teacher leaders. Results indicate that the frequency of teachers’ informal feedback seeking towards their leadership team is rather low. However, teachers turn the most towards their principals for informal feedback. Multilevel regression analyses show that transformational leadership seems to be the most influential characteristic for this choice. Instructional leadership is only influential for the informal feedback seeking from principals, while transformational leadership shows to be important for all three leadership categories (principal, assistant principals and teacher leaders). The article identifies several pathways for further research to extend our knowledge about informal feedback seeking of teachers in schools. Also for leadership development programmes implications are formulated including the needed attention on the topic of feedback provision for teachers.

Conexiones de valor: una perspectiva del capital social sobre las redes sociales de profesores, el compromiso y la autoeficacia

In research on educational reform implementation, scholars have highlighted the importance of teacher collaboration in support of increased student achievement. In this study, we examine whether teachers’ knowledge exchange in social networks is related to key elements that have been associated with increased student achievement, namely teacher self-efficacy and commitment. Drawing on social capital theory, we study teachers’ social networks to assess whether greater access to resources, as captured by a more central network position, is related to a greater sense of teacher efficacy and commitment. We collected survey and social network data from eight elementary schools in the Netherlands (N=114), which were then analyzed using social network analysis and correlational analysis. Results suggest positive relationships between teachers’ social network indicators, teacher self-efficacy, and commitment to the organization and to students. Our findings yield directions for more relationally oriented educational policy instruments.