A tide of publications on Teachers’ Social Networks (II – The Articles)

In my last post, I described some of the books that have recently been published on the topic of teachers’ social networks. In addition to books, there has been a flurry of publication on the topic. I’ll touch on a few by colleagues- with some shameless self-promotion to boot – If I’ve left some of your favorites out, be sure to chime in on the comments section!

Policy Articles

Daly, A. J., Moolenaar, N.M., Bolivar, J.M, & Burke, P. (2010) Relationships in reform: The role of teachers’ social networks. Journal of Educational Administration. 48 (3)

As mentioned in the previous post, Daly and are big on the teachers’ social network scene, and this article is massive – covering the implementation of as school reform across an entire district from the point of view of social networks. The implications slap you in the face with the significance of social networks in teachers’ work – when schools had greater density in their reform-related networks, they were more likely to have successful reform outcomes.

Coburn, C.E., & Russell, J.L. (2008) District Policy and Teachers’ Social Networks. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. 30 (3)

Okay, so this one isn’t so recent, but I haven’t mentioned it yet, and I must say that it’s one that I keep going back to. Like Daly et. al., Coburn and Russell look at how district policy was implemented from a social network perspective, yet their approach is much more qualitative. You get a vivid pictures of what social networks look like on the ground and the everyday interactions that impact them.

Baker-Doyle, K.J. (2010) Beyond the labor market paradigm: A social network perspective on teacher recruitment and retention. Educational Policy and Analysis Archives. 18 (26).

This article was just published a few weeks ago. It is really an overview of research perspectives on teacher recruitment and retention and shows how a social network perspective can reveal factors that are not considered under current research paradigms.

Teacher Support and Professional Development Articles

Anderson, L. (2010) Embedded, emboldened and (net)working for change: Support seeking and teacher agency in urban, high needs schools. Harvard Education Review. 80(4), 541-572

Anderson’s research is on new teachers’ social networks. He research is primarily qualitative, and she digs deep into the complexities of each of her case study teachers’ lives. We’re kindred spirits - I’m really looking forward to seeing more of her work published!!

Baker-Doyle, K.J. & Yoon, S.A. (2010) In search of practitioner-based social capital: A social network analysis tool for understanding and facilitating teacher collaboration in a USA-based STEM professional development program. Professional Development in Education. 37(1), 75-93.

My colleague Susan Yoon and I are in the midst of a series of articles on the social networks of teachers in a STEM professional development program. This is the first in the series. It discusses how we devised a social network analysis tool to investigate the networking dynamics of the group of teachers in the PD. Really interesting findings – mainly that when teachers needed help with science content they did not naturally seek out support from people who had a lot of content knowledge! A little about our intervention and outcomes the second year is in our chapter in Daly’s Book, Social Network Theory and Educational Change. Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming articles in the series!

Fox, A., Wilson, E. and Deaney, R (2011) Beginning teachers’ workplace experiences: their perceptions and use of support, Vocations and Learning, 4(1), Available from Online First August 2010

Fox, Anderson, and I have all focused on new teachers’ social networks and we’ve each come to some similar conclusions about a variety of issues. What I agree with most with Fox et. al.’s most recent piece is in their encouragement of new teachers to reject passivity and take charge of networking.

Coming up in my next post....

The Conference Round-Up – AERA 2011 and beyond!