Networked by Design: Interventions for Teachers to Develop Social Capital (original) (raw)
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Background/Context: Researchers have proposed a number of lenses for analyzing teacher professional communities in recent years. These lenses have been useful in describing key dynamics of professional communities; however, none provides a compelling approach to how to integrate data from the school as a whole with case study data on individual interactions to create a coherent account of the structure and dynamics of teacher professional communities. Objective: Our objective was to present and illustrate the application of social capital theory for analyzing the role of formal and informal teacher interactions in helping teachers enact changes to instruction associated with ambitious school reforms. Social capital theory posits that valued resources and expertise are embedded within social networks and that it is through social ties that one gains access to and can make use of resources to effect change. The network perspective directs researchers to focus simultaneously on the overall social structure of a school and on the expertise and resources exchanged through interactions among teachers that
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PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Social capital redes sociais auto-eficácia e realizaçao ABSTRACT: 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 t...
Teachers' Social Capital: Differentiations and Outcomes
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The Use of Social Capital in Teacher Research: A Necessary Clarification
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In this paper, we present a critical reflection on the concept of social capital. We argue that there is no such idea of an umbrella concept of social capital. Instead, two overarching conceptualizations of social capital exist, namely individual social capital and collective social capital. As these conceptualizations of social capital are completely different, we emphasize that studies using social capital as a theoretical lens should clarify the concept as well as be consistent in the interpretation of the concept, from its definition to its methodological operationalization. In this article, we first map the two different conceptualizations of social capital. Next, these conceptualizations are illustrated with well-known teacher research studies, followed by examples of studies in which individual and collective social capital are mixed. Finally, we discuss the consequences of the use and the mix of these different conceptualizations in terms of measurement methods. Additionally...
Social Capital Resources in Schools: Explaining Effective School Community
Contemporary Perspectives on Social Capital in Educational Contexts, 2019
Many quantitative studies limit analyses of teachers’ influence on student learning to associations with teachers’ gender, race, ethnicity, teaching tenure/experience, and university prestige (Nye, Konstantopoulos, & Hedges, 2004; Wayne & Youngs, 2003). If we subscribe to the idea that teachers and the school environments create student learning environments (Waller, 1932), we need to better understand how certain schools produce more effective learning environments than schools with otherwise similar human capital resources. Thus, this study uses teacher network data of the ego, alter, and organization to understand the social capital resources that differentiate aspects of school communities. It is important to understand how various social capital aspects compose school communities so that we can then think about how to create and sustain effective school communities for student learning.
Exploring patterns of interpersonal relationships among teachers: A social network perspective.
In T. Wubbels, J. van Tartwijk, P. den Brok and J. Levy (Eds.), Interpersonal Relationships in Education. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: SENSE Publishers.
This chapter illustrates the potential of social network theory for the study of interpersonal relationships in education. We shift the focus from one-to-one interpersonal relationships to the interconnected pattern of interpersonal relationships as captured by social networks. The notion guiding this chapter is that social networks among teachers may support or constrain the exchange of resources that can be accessed and leveraged to achieve schools’ goals. We briefly review social capital theory, social network theory, and network mechanisms that may explain how interpersonal relationships are formed, maintained, or discontinued. Subsequently, recent insights in the content, formation, and effects of social networks among educators are discussed. This social network perspective adds to our understanding of how interpersonal relationships among educators impact a variety of teacher and school outcomes, as well as suggest direction for more relationally oriented educational policy instruments.
Higher Education, 2018
Scholars have long recognized that teachers' social interactions play an important role in their learning and professional development. Still, while a growing body of research shows that teaching-focused social ties can give precollege educators access to valuable information, knowledge, and advice—or Bsocial capital^—that improves professional practice and student learning, empirical, mixed methods studies on the phenomenon in the higher education sector are rare, and few investigate what conditions are necessary for these social ties to develop among college instructors. Focusing on college faculty in 17 associate-and baccalaureate-level institutions in one U.S. city, this study uses survey and interview data to explore the connections between structural and positional educator characteristics and the Bsocial networks,^ or compilations of social ties, in which faculty reported discussing teaching. Regression analyses of survey responses (n = 244) indicate that fewer years of teaching experience, the time faculty take preparing to teach, discipline, and institution type are correlated with social network dimensions linked to improved professional practice. An inductive analysis of interview data from a subset of faculty (n = 22) supplements survey findings with descriptions of how teaching experience, organizational support, and other factors constrain and reinforce the development of teaching-focused social ties. Results confirm and extend prior research indicating that the development of teaching-focused social networks and the accrual of ties linked to social capital demand faculty and organizational investment. Findings also suggest that leaders hoping to foster beneficial ties should tailor instructional initiatives to more closely align with faculty experience and time commitments.
This chapter illustrates the potential of social network theory for the study of interpersonal relationships in education. We shift the focus from one-to-one interpersonal relationships to the interconnected pattern of interpersonal relationships as captured by social networks. The notion guiding this chapter is that social networks among teachers may support or constrain the exchange of resources that can be accessed and leveraged to achieve schools’ goals. We briefly review social capital theory, social network theory, and network mechanisms that may explain how interpersonal relationships are formed, maintained, or discontinued. Subsequently, recent insights in the content, formation, and effects of social networks among educators are discussed. This social network perspective adds to our understanding of how interpersonal relationships among educators impact a variety of teacher and school outcomes, as well as suggest direction for more relationally oriented educational policy instruments.
Catalyzing Teacher's Professional Development through Teacher Social Capital
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), 2023
The most important factor in the success of higher Educational institutions is the quality and engagement of its faculty….‖ (NEP, 2020). Teachers often work single-handedly but during the process of imparting education, they do engage in interactions. Recently there has been rising interest in this interaction and how it influencesthe professional development of the teachers. Community practice perspective on teachers' interaction portrays how interaction with each other and engagement in diverse activities enable professional development. It needs to be understood that teachers are participants in the community who take roles and try to improve, reproduce and even transform practices with the available resources. Their sharing of practices leads to the formation of social ties through which mutual exchange of expertise takes place. The more sharing of practices takes place the more readily knowledge and information are exchanged. There has been growing interest in mapping different aspects of teacher interaction through social network analysis embedded in the sociological concept of social capital (Baker-Doyle,2010). It has been also seen that there exists a strong tradition of research which focuses on how teachers are influenced by the environment of the organisation and how they contribute tothe co-construction of thought processes. National Education Policy 2020 emphasises the development of creative potential among teachers. It aims to bring about teachers' reform by modifying the work environment and promoting greater social interaction among teachers. This article aims to highlight the role of social capital in the form of teacher social capital in the professional development of teachers.