Networks in Education: An Analysis of Selected Discourses (original) (raw)
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School Leadership & Management, 2019
Within the framework of the CaixaProinfancia programme, networks have been developed in 18 regions of Spain which promote intersectoral cooperation to combat the social and educational exclusion of children. Their emerging nature and simultaneous development have enabled a comparative study to be made of their organisation, the supporting and inhibiting factors, and the perception of the results. The conclusions stress the importance of leadership which takes into account the principles of transversality and horizontality, as well as properly focusing the socioeducational action and implementing it within a relatively short period of time. Some networks evolve in their approach, going from attending to the participants' needs to more global approaches to socioeducational governance.
The Study of Educative Network Organizations in the City of Barcelona
Trends and Effects of Technology Advancement in the Knowledge Society, 2012
The research is focused on the description of the inside organization of educative networks (ENs) and the aspects that allowed their growth and success in the city of Barcelona (Spain). The ENs emerged over the last ten years in Catalonia, Spain, as a new way of facing the social and educative action in the territory. These educative proposals are based on the connection between the different educative institutions in the community, to tackle social and education challenges in cooperation through a common project. The intent of ENs is to create synergies between cooperating organizations, and to coordinate community action so as to avoid the overlaps that cause parallel work. Along these years and in spite of the difficulties found, the study shows how these educative structures take advantage of the context possibilities to improve educative impact and develop a new vision of organizing and conceiving education.
Enacting networks for school innovation
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The paper deals with the complex issue of the shift towards heterarchical modes of coordination in educational governance, exploring the nexus established by the contemporary discourse on networking between networking itself and innovation. Once presented the main features of such a discourse, the work develops addressing those critical positions that challenge the ‘magic properties’ attributed to networks by the prevailing governance narratives in the field of education. A contribution to this critical pathway of analysis is given, presenting the findings of a case study on a policy program for combating social exclusion and school drop out developed through the establishment of a network to innovate the practices of teaching and learning in a group of Italian failing schools. The study highlights how the discourse on networks tends to offer a partial and simplitic view on the functioning of the networked forms of coordination and selforganising, eliciting those analytical dimensio...
Beyond Networks? A Brief Response to ‘Which Networks Matter in Education Governance?’
Political Studies, 2009
Mark Goodwin's commentary on and critique, in this issue, of my 2008 article in this journal ( Ball, 2008 ) is both pertinent and constructive and indeed I agree with almost all of it. Goodwin makes the point that the distribution of power and capabilities within policy networks was not properly addressed in my article and that as a result I may tend to overestimate the looseness of such networks and underestimate the continuing prominence of the formal legal powers of the state in processes of governance. He also suggests that the existence of and work done by the networks I describe should not in themselves be taken to be indicative of a shift from government to network governance. These concerns raise very proper and important questions and pose major challenges for empirical policy network analysis. However, I would want to say that my 2008 article represents a first foray into the issues and problems of a grounded analysis of network governance in education. Many of the poi...
Educational networks: a key driving force for school development in a time of crisis and change
SHS Web of Conferences 98, 02003 (2021) Education and City 2020, 2021
This paper examines the rise of networking in education, paying particular attention to the recent recognition of their importance during the unprecedented challenges that have emerged for schools during the COVID-19 period. The paper begins with an overview of the development of network theory, exploring how the concept has been adopted across a series of disciplines as a mode of organisational and personal development. It is evidentiated that networks are goal driven, rely on good communication, are challenging and seek to provide a way for school communities to uncover and transmit the knowledge that helps them ensure effective teaching and learning. The paper subsequently examines how networking has been adapted for educational settings and has become increasingly seen as a potential answer to many of the challenges facing rapidly changing social and educational contexts. Most notably, networking has a significant impact in the field of organisational leadership. The understanding of leadership as a mode that sees power and authority distributed among school communities as a whole has at its heart an awareness of the necessity to network, communicate and dialogue within schools and, perhaps as importantly, between schools. The paper concludes with a brief introduction to the emerging discourse surrounding the potential of networks to re-imaging educational provision in a Covid-19 context.
Essential Features of Effective Networks in Education
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to advance clarity and precision around effective action in networks, understood as collaboration that: first, deepens the learning and engagement of students and adults; second, enhances the professional capital of teachers and leaders; and third, becomes a positive force of whole system improvement. It distills eight essential features of effective networks by fleshing out key lessons from existing research and from emerging education network developments in the English-speaking world and Latin America. It then discusses three shifts required for a new partnership between networks and central leadership to turn networks into forces of educational system renewal. Design/methodology/approach – Two sources of evidence were identified and reviewed: first, literature reviews and studies aimed at identifying characteristics of effective networks in education; and second, network case studies and R&D initiatives that used networks as their improvement strategy and had demonstrated positive impact on student outcomes or on one or more professional capital variables often associated with improved student outcomes. To distill the eight essential features of effective networks and three required shifts in the relationship between networks and central leadership, the authors engaged in an iterative process of thematic analysis (Boyatzis, 1998) deliberately searching for key characteristics and processes describing effective collaboration. The list was revised for completeness and parsimony. Findings – The eight essential features of effective networks identified are: first, focusing on ambitious student learning outcomes linked to effective pedagogy; second, developing strong relationships of trust and internal accountability; third, continuously improving practice and systems through cycles of collaborative inquiry; fourth, using deliberate leadership and skilled facilitation within flat power structures; fifth, frequently interacting and learning inwards; sixth, connecting outwards to learn from others; seventh, forming new partnership among students, teachers, families, and communities; and eighth, securing adequate resources to sustain the work. The three required shifts in the relationship between networks and central leadership are: first, from supply driven to demand driven; second, from compliance oriented to learning oriented; and third, from bureaucracy to movement. Research limitations/implications – The key limitation derives from the scarce available evidence to date causally – or even co-relationally – connecting network activities with improved student learning. This paper summarizes what is known to date about effective collaboration in networks and advance a theory of action that causally links network activities with improved student outcomes and enhanced professional capital. This theory of action, summarized in eight essential features, simultaneously offers key hypotheses for social network theory in education and actionable guidelines to develop effective networks. Practical implications – The eight essential features of effective networks and the three required shifts in the relationship between networks and central leadership presented here were intentionally framed as action oriented. They offer a clear and actionable set of guidelines to develop effective networks. Social implications – The power of networks as vehicles to dramatically improve schools and entire educational systems is yet to be realized. This paper offers guidelines to enhance the effectiveness of networks, and thus contributes to the realization of the yet unfulfilled promise of networks.
School Networks and Sustainable Development
The promotion of new approaches to the development of knowledge and the production of education services, which respect the Europe 2020 strategies, is the precondition for the economic development of the entire country, upholding the principles of inclusion and sustainability. The scarcity of resources earmarked for the education system and the very complexity of learning needs suggest forms of institutional cooperation between schools and their stakeholders, which can only be achieved through networks of relationships. This article aims to highlight the conditions at the base of: the building and development of a network of relationships between the school and the community, so as to meet ever more complex educational needs; the maintenance and enhancement of relations in the network, with the aim of ensuring an effective system of educational services; the definition of responsibilities, structures and processes of school governance for the human capital’s growth as part of the sustainable development of a local community.