The power of social capital in teaching

Here is an interesting new article on the power of social capital (and thus, social networks) in teachers work. http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/the_missing_link_in_school_reform/

Teacher-Student Online Networking: Weighing in

Recently, legislators in Missouri enacted a law that essentially bans online social networking between teachers and students ( see http://cnet.co/oypju1 for details). The rationale is that it would protect children from sexual abuse by blocking online chatting opportunities between students and teachers.

Does this make sense? In my opinion, not a lot. First, it seems like a band-aid solution for a problem that would find another way to resurface (likely through face to face interactions, rather than online). Second, it actually hinders the kind of communication between students and teachers that allows teachers to learn about the external factors shaping students' experiences, which is valuable knowledge for student-centered teachers. Third, it makes negative assumptions about teachers that damages our respect for their professional decision-making and work.

I can understand the worry that administrators have about teacher-student social networking - it's something that happens "after hours," in an informal arena. However, they must realize that students and teachers will communicate with each other anyway- they'll just find different means to do so. In fact, online social networks offer parents and administrators a clearer picture of the social networks that teacher and students are involved in and how they use them, especially if students have clear communication with their parents about their networking habits (such as sharing their social networks with their parents).

My recommendation is for administrators to find ways to help teachers use online social networks in a positive and productive way, rather than banning them altogether. Teachers can share information about what's going on inside the classroom and what's planned for the future with parents and students online. They can further students' interests in current topics by posting articles and links to helpful websites. They can learn from students by listening to them and learning who they socialize with (and why).

I have a professional Facebook page and several of my current and former students have friended me. It is a valuable information source for me as an educator. I learn about the heartaches and struggles students are going through outside of class; who has a relative who has died, who is working two jobs, who has a significant other in the armed forces, and so on. Students occasionally chat with me as well. They ask me about how to apply for jobs or scholarships, what to do to improve a particular assignment, or just to say thank you. I think students appreciate that I am there for them in this way, and I certainly benefit from getting a "bigger picture" of their lives.

There are precautions we should all take when networking online. Yet, the young people of today will be the leaders of tomorrow and will likely be networking online all of their lives. Including adults such as teachers and parents in young people's networks can help them learn how to use these technologies in a safer and possibly more educational way. Further, teachers must also learn how to engage with these technologies, because they will be the ones teaching this future generation, and cannot do so blind to one of the biggest parts of their lives. When we doubt that teachers cannot learn to use these technologies in a professional manner, we also doubt their professional judgement and abilities. This leads to the degradation of the profession on the whole (which sadly has been happening for some time, with repeated teacher-bashing in politics and the media). We need teachers to be supported in making professional judgement, because every child they encounter is unique, and they must be able to make unique choices regarding their education.

There is no single prescription for education; teaching is complex, and teachers must have opportunities to learn about the lives of the children they work with, inside and outside of school. Being able to connect online is one of those opportunities. Done thoughtfully and responsibly, it can be a powerful professional tool.

New Book, New Website

My book, The Networked Teacher: How New Teachers Build Social Networks for Professional Support, will be available in stores and online at the end of August (although you CAN pre-order it online at Amazon.com). If you want a sneak peak of the book, visit the companion website athttp://www.thenetworkedteacher.com. In addition to previews, folks that eventually read the book will be able to use some of the interactive tools such as network graphing technology, book group discussion guides, and interactive forums. Check it out and share with others who might be interested!

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!

A tide of publications on Teachers’ Social Networks (I – The Books)

Back in 2009 when I started this blog there were a core group of researchers studying teachers' social networks, just beginning to get out publications on their research. To be frank, I didn't have that much news to post. Well now the time has come – a wave of publications with rich data, insights and conversations have come out, sparking dialog and some debate.

There are three books just out and one on the way (mine!) about educational networks.

Robert McCormick, Alison Fox, Patrick Carmichael and Richard Proctor authored Researching and Understanding Educational Networks, published by Routledge earlier this year. The book describes the outcomes of their research on teachers’ social networks. I found it most helpful from a methodological standpoint. McCormick et al. reflect upon the multiple conceptualizations of social networks offered by scholar and by their research participants, and discuss how these conceptualizations shaped their data analyses. Their conclusions are really in their problemetization of the multiple conceptions of support networks. I would recommend this book to scholars interested in mixed-method social network research.

Alan Daly’s edited book, Social Network Theory and Educational Change includes a range of studies using social network analysis to study educational reform in schools (including a chapter by my colleague Susan Yoon and I). The book has garnered rave reviews, and rightly so – Daly has effectively brought together some of the most cutting edge, knowledgeable and respected minds in the small-but-rapidly-growing area of social network research in schools. The book comes out in December, but you can pre-order it on Amazon if you’re like me and you just can’t wait!

Daly’s colleague in multiple studies has been Nienke Moolenaar, who has recently published her dissertation, Ties with Potential: Nature, Antecedents, and Consequences of Social Networks in School Teams, which is available in book form. You can email her to purchase it.

Of course, I can’t end this post without announcing the upcoming publication of my book from Teachers College Press. It is titled The Networked Teacher: How New Teachers Build Social Networks for Professional Support. It focuses on new teachers’ networks, and is aimed at a more general audience (teachers, mentors, administrators, and teacher educators, as well as scholars), as a practical guide to understanding the research and theory behind teachers’ social networks. It will also have a companion website for the book, where readers can share their experiences in developing or assisting teacher support networks and find additional information on the topic. Should be out in late 2011, if all goes to plan!

Stay tuned for my next post on recent or upcoming scholarly articles on teachers’ social networks!

Keeping Quality Teachers

Rethinking schools just published a special report on social justice-oriented perspectives on retaining quality teachers. To see the collection, visit this link.

The Disheartened, The Contented, and The Idealists: Teachers of the 21st Century

A new study out by Public Agenda and Learning Points Associates, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and the Joyce Foundation, examined teachers' perceptions of their job in relation to their experiences in school. Teachers were grouped into three categories: Disheartened, Contented, and Idealists. Surprisingly, the majority (40%) of teachers in the national survey (over 900 teachers participating) were categorized as Disheartened. Coming in second, 37% were Contented. Few were Idealist - an important category that indicated hope and work towards school reform and transformation.

To read more about the study or get a copy of the report, click here.

Teacher Peer Learning increases student achievement

After a summer hiatus, it's good to be back to the blog...

Lots of exciting happenings in the world of teacher networks, which I'll be blogging about over the course of the fall. 

For now - Here's a new study that just came out in the American Economics Journal, indicating a "spillover effect" for high quality teachers to less experienced teachers - in terms of student achievement. The authors are C. Kirabo Jackson and Elias Bruegmann.

New Report out by TNTP

The New Teacher Project, has just published a report on how schools measure teacher effectiveness. It argues that teachers are too often thought of as "widgets" (thus, the title of the report - "The Widget Effect") instead of individuals. The authors conclude that schools 

“fail to distinguish great teaching from good, good from fair, and fair from poor. A teacher’s effectiveness – the most important factor for schools in improving student achievement – is not measured, recorded, or used to inform decision-making in any meaningful way.”

To read the report, go to widgeteffect.org

New Teachers in New York - "Need not apply"

Article from Sunday's NYT - 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/nyregion/11teachers.html?hp

Begs the question - what role do social networks play in internal hiring situations? Also, what are the implications of hiring internally, from a social network perspective?

Teaching and Learning with Technology at Penn State

Over the weekend I presented at an Intra-university conference on my use of wikis in my course.  My aim in using wikis was to create a professional bridge for my students and the teachers they work with in the schools. One of the attendants, David Hutchinson (Penn State University) wrote up a blog post about the presentation – you can read it here: http://www.freewebs.com/hutch153/schoolboardblogger.htm?blogentryid=4495552 

Research on Social Networks in Schools – More Highlights from AERA

One of the most exciting sessions I attended at AERA was a panel exclusively focused on the use of social network analysis to study teachers’ work and communities.

Nienke Moolenaar, a Ph.D. student from the University of Amsterdam presented a study on the social networks of teachers in Amsterdam schools (the co-authors include Bonne Ziljstra and Dr. Peter Sleegers).  Their study is massive – including almost all of the teachers in the district.  They are interested in looking at the ways that teachers’ different types of social networks (friendship, professional, etc.) are related,  and the relationship between levels of trust between teachers and within the school are related to characteristics of the networks.  Moolenaar et al’s initial findings are quite thought provoking. First, she found some contradictions between levels of trust between teachers and within the school (you’ll have to read their paper to get more detail on this). Second, they found that teachers’ professional networks were much more inclusive and widespread than friendship networks.  This is a promising finding, in my opinion – that professional work does not have to rest exclusively on friendship, but rather on the collaborative work and projects that teachers do.

 Dr. Alan Daly, assistant professor at the University of California-San Diego presented  (co-authors Kara Finnegan & Jose Manuel Bolivar) a longitudinal study of social networks in schools.  This is one of the first whole-district, longitudinal SNA studies to be done.  Daly et al are interested in the ways networks change as a reform effort is being implemented.  I found their tie characteristics interesting – for example, one type of tie they examined were “risk” ties – that is, who in your network takes risks or do you see as a risk-taker?  Also, it was interesting to see the movement over time – to see who became more isolated and pushed to the periphery (again, please look for their papers to read more detail on the study)

 Finally, another fascinating SNA study was presented by Allison Atteberry (co-author Dr. Tony Bryk) from Stanford University.   Their study examines the social networks of teachers as they relate to literacy coaches in a school.  Their research shows how important a coach or mentor can be in bridging ties between teachers in a school and sharing information.  To read more about the study, you can visit their website at: www.iisrd.org

There was another session with researchers the MIECT study project that focused exclusively on teachers’ networks.

Doctoral Student, Ben Pogodzinski focused on issues of mentoring and commitment – his findings are similar to several other recent SNA studies in one regard – the importance of “informal” mentoring relationships over formal mentoring relationship.

Another presenter, Nathan Jones, discussed his work with Peter Youngs on the attitudes of early-career teachers throughout their day.  Low & Youngs used an interesting technique to gather data – a sort of paging system that beeped teachers randomly throughout the day to ask them about what they were doing at that time and how they were feeling. The study had interesting findings around the proportional differences in the kinds of activities that regular and special education teachers engaged in throughout the day.  Further, I was particularly interested in their finding that teachers were generally “happier” during instruction time than when interacting with colleagues.  Of course – and we don’t necessarily need a study to prove this -- they were least happy filing paperwork J

Mark Low presented a paper that contrasted the networks and commitment levels of teachers in public schools versus catholic schools. There were some initial findings that indicated important differences in the commitment levels of Public versus Catholic schools – this study is still in progress and more analysis on the data will probably be available soon.

In addition to the sessions, I met another SNA researcher, Alison Fox, from Cambridge University, who presented her paper on the social network of early career teachers. She works with several scholars in England – Patrick Carmichael (CARET, Cambridge), Robert McCormick (Open University) and Richard Procter (I of E).  They have been researching teacher learning and communities in England for several years now, and have a website dedicated to all of their research: www.tlrp.org

Research on Teacher Induction & Mentoring- Highlights from AERA Conference

Teacher induction and mentoring is a hot topic in education, and I sought out talks that related closely to teacher relationships and networks. The following were some papers and presentations that posed some interesting findings and ideas:

Morgan Polikoff, a doctoral student working with Dean Andy Porter at the University of Pennsylvania GSE reported on his research about the range of mentoring that teachers receive in schools. One interesting pattern that emerged in his study was that mid-career changers tended to have been paid less attention to by their principals, and received less time in mentoring.  In interviews, principals seemed to infer that they believed that these older teachers could handle things better with less support because they were more mature and had more life experience.  From a social network perspective, I wondered if these teachers had more established social roots in the community and school that might have provided additional social support that first-career new teachers may not have.

Dr. Richard Ingersoll, also a professor at the University of Pennsylvania was the discussant at Mr. Polikoff’s session. He noted that we had “come a long way” in developing induction practices, but that we had a long way to go in breaking some of the entrenched beliefs around isolationism and “sink or swim” policies.  He urged continued research on this front and to realize what we have learned through policies and programs in schools.

In another session on Teacher Recruitment and Hiring, members of the research team on the Michigan-Indiana Early Career Teacher (MIECT) study project reported some early findings.

Erin Grogan (Doctoral Student at Michigan State University) looked at the differences between the way charter schools and public schools recruit teachers. She noted that previous research has found that districts and schools that use a range of strategies for recruitment were most successful in teacher recruitment.   Surprisingly, she noted that traditional public schools were more likely to use a range of innovative incentive strategies than Charter schools.  

 

Her findings were brought into a larger discussion led by Dr. Edward Liu of Rutgers University.   Ms. Grogan noted that, when she talked with principals and other administrators, the reality was that teachers were primarily sought and recruited through social networks – if the principal or administrator knew them prior to their application, say, for example, if they were substitute teachers beforehand. 

Dr. Liu mentioned that it was sometimes unclear what aspect of recruitment and placement strategies (the written policy or the “unwritten” but socially accepted policies) “trumped” the shaping of decisions made by administrators as to who they recruit and hire. Further, teachers’ decisions to apply to a particular school are equally complex and in need of further research.  I recalled Boyd, Lankford, Loeb, & Wycoff’s (2003) research on the “Draw of Home” – or teachers’ desire to teach in communities similar to their own – and wondered if there were any empirical studies comparing this factor with teachers’ actual social networks – and the job acceptance/seeking rate.  As of now, it seems there is not much data on this (but scholars in the MIECT study and others are starting to emerge with new and interesting social network data). 

NCTAF & Online Professional Communities for New Teachers

The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future announced a partnership with Pearson- a private educational resources company - in March 2009 to develop an online program for hosting new teachers' professional learning communities.  The project is officially called "Teachers Learning in Networked Communities" or "TLINC."  TLINC will use the established "Tapped In" platform for the project.  It is based off of pilot programs from the University of Memphis, University of Colorado-Denver,  and the University of Washington. 

For more information, visit the NCTAF website or go directly to this link - 

http://www.nctaf.org/resources/news/press_releases/PearsonTLINC.htm

Teachers' Social Network Papers at the 2009 American Educational Research Association Conference

The 2009 AERA Conference will occur from April 13th-17th in San Diego, CA.

Several papers and presentations will address Teachers' Social Networks.

Myself and Dr. Susan Yoon (University of Pennsylvania, GSE)  will be presenting our SNA research at a poster session on Thursday, April 16th. The title of the session is: "Building and Sustaining Innovative Science and Technology programs: Learning from Teachers' Social Networking Characteristics"  The presentation will describe our research on the social networking characteristics of teachers in a STEM professional development program, and the implications of the findings on future program design.

Another session that promises to be interesting is:

"The Role of Social Networks in Influencing the Commitment of Novice Teachers"

Presenters for this session include: 

From Michigan State University: Peter Youngs, Ben Pogodzinski, Nathan Jones, & Mark R. Low.  From University of Wisconsin-Madison, Patricia Burch, and from University of Notre-Dame, Sean P. Kelly

A session that may give a broader perspective on social networks in schools is: "Understanding the Nature and Function of Social Networks in School Organizations"  Presenters from this session include: 

From University of Washington: Michelle DeVoogt Van Lare, Irene H. Yoon. From University of Amsterdam: Nienke Moolenaar, Bonne J.H. Zijlstra, From Univeristy of Twente: Peter Sleegers,

From University of California- San Diego: Alan J. Daly, Jose Manuel Bolivar. From University of Rochester: Kara S. Finnigan, and from Stanford University: Allison J. Atteberry, Anthony S. Bryk.

One session that is more about students' social networks, but may have some good examples of innovative social network research is: Peer Networks and School Culture: Their Influence on Academic and Social Outcomes.  It will be chaired by Gabriella C. Gonzalez of the RAND Corporation.

I will be live-twittering from the conference - sign up to follow my twitter account if you'd like to follow along: http://twitter.com/KJBD .

Wikis, Twitters, and Social networking for teachers on the web

Just surfing around & found a few interesting links:

This wiki describes how teachers can use technology for social networking: Socialnetworking4teachers

This wiki is for new teachers new-teacher-resources.wikispaces.com

Here is a link to an article that lists the "top 100 Edu-Twitters"

This site helps schools to network with each other:

www.theschoolsunited.com

It's On: The "21st Century Skills" Debate

Education week just posted a major article on several scholars' challenges to the emerging "21st century skills" movement - a collaboration between professional teacher organizations and businesses that have created a framework for 21st century learning. 

Read it here

According to many scholars, the disagreement actually comes down to the old "skills vs content" debate that has been raging for years. However the 21st century skills folks have been quick to respond to these challenges - here is text from an email they sent to folks on their listserv:

"Education Week has covered a recent discussion between Ken Kay, Diane Ravitch, E.D. Hirsch and Daniel Willingham. The Partnership wants to be clear that we advocate for world class skills and world class knowledge. Our goal is to fully prepare citizens and workers for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. This means ensuring students receive rich content instruction and graduate with the skills necessary for post-secondary life. It appears our beliefs are echoed by Claus von Zastrow as he said in a blog post: "let's hope our more literal-minded commentators don't make the argument that skills are not transferable-period."

While the above coverage has seemed balanced and informative, some blog posts by discussion participants haven't been. Diane Ravitch, in her blog Bridging Differences, worries that:

"Is [the Partnership] an effort on the part of the technology companies to sell more high-tech hardware and software to schools? Is it an effort to throw a wrench into the effort to develop meaningful and reasonable academic standards by replacing them with vague and pleasing-sounding goals?"

The answer is clearly "no." Our goal is ensure every child in America has the 21st century knowledge and skills to succeed as effective citizens, workers and leaders in today's world."

WOW.

Teachers seeking support & developing their social networks: Two good articles

So, after the SEA conference, Kip Tellez contacted me with to share some information on research he completed a few years ago about how beginning teachers seek out support and help - a fascinating article, with some very similar findings to my research - that teachers often seek informal support persons, rather than formal, administrator types.  Lots of questions are raised by this - like, is it then possible to create formal supportive networks in schools? If so what are the characteristics of "good" formal networks vs. "bad" formal networks (I have some ideas on that one here...) 

Here is the citation to Kip's article:

Tellez, K. (1992) Mentors by choice, not design: Help-seeking by beginning teachers.  Journal of Teacher Education, 43(3) p. 214-221

Also,  Another interesting SNA article on early career teachers that was written recently by Andrew Thomas at UCLA examines the patterns of 99 beginning teachers' social networks and their attrition rates. A major finding here is that teachers with very diverse "heterogenous" networks tended to be "position-changers" - move up in the ranks. Another finding to get you thinking - and connected to some things I've been thinking about - that this coming generation of teacher have more and more ability to reach out to diverse networks - what are the implications of this for teacher attrition rates?

Here is the citation to Thomas' article:

Thomas, A. (2007) Teacher attrition, social capital, and career advancement: An unwelcome message. Research and Practice in Social Sciences, 3 (1) p. 19-47

SEA conference - what's new, what's developing

Over the weekend I attended the Sociology of Education Association conference in Monterey, CA.

The conference was intimate, with all presenters and attendees in the same room for each session.  The theme was "Educational Transitions."  Much of the talk outside of the presentations was about thinking of new (or more in-depth ways) to describe and frame findings, beyond SES and gender. Several presenters used Social network theory or social network analysis to frame their work, which spoke to this challenge.  Below were some papers that used this perspective:

Melanie Toshiye Jones, "Fragmented or reliable information: Use of college information sources among African Americans"

This paper considered the social networks of high school students - how they accessed information to apply for college. I was particularly fascinated in how the "in-person" networks of students influenced their online practices and digital literacy. 

Janis McCabe [and Brandon Adonis Jackson], "The financial aid grapevine: Social capital in undergraduate' experiences with college cost."

Janis presented data on how college students social networks shape their access to information and resources for financial aid.  One particularly interesting aspect of her presentation was in the limitations of social capital - that ones' social network could only go so far in affecting larger institutional changes.

Also, Donnell Butler presented "From segregation to integration: The effect of race and high school segregation on social integration at predominantly white colleges,"  which had some interesting implications from a social network perspective.  His findings supported the viewpoint that densely connected, close, homophilic networks provide the highest degree of emotional support. I wondered about the drawbacks of these types of networks, in terms of access to resources and new information.

All in all, many new ideas to think about and explore!

Sociology of Education Association

I'll be presenting my paper, "The Social Networks of First Year Teachers: Developing School Status, Support & Savoir-Faire through Intentional Professional Networks" at the Sociology of Education Association Conference this weekend in Monterey Bay, CA.  If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the paper, please let me know.