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Social network analysis of the influences of educational reforms on teachers’ practices and interactions

Sozial Netzwerkanalyse der Einflüsse von Bildungsreformen auf die Lehrpraxis und Interaktionen von Lehrkräften

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Abstract

In this chapter we present social network analysis in the context of recent educational reforms concerning teachers’ instructional practices. Teachers are critical to the implementation of educational reforms, and teacher networks are important because teachers draw on local knowledge and conform to local norms as they implement new practices. We describe three social network approaches. First, we graphically represent network data to characterize the network structure through which information and knowledge about reforms might diffuse. Second, we use social influence models to express how teachers’ beliefs or behaviors are affected by others with whom they interact. Third, we use social selection models to express how teachers might select with whom to engage in interactions about reforms. We discuss the implications for scientific dialogue, and for informing educational policy studies and the practice of educational policy makers and school administrators.

Zusammenfassung

In diesem Kapitel präsentieren wir die Soziale Netzwerkanalyse im Kontext aktueller Bildungsreformen, die sich auf Instruktionspraktiken von Lehrpersonen beziehen. Lehrpersonen spielen für die Implementation von Bildungsformen eine zentrale Rolle. Soziale Netzwerke von Lehrpersonen sind insofern von hoher Bedeutung, als Lehrpersonen im Zuge der Implikation neuer Praktiken auf lokales Wissen und lokale Normen zurückgreifen. Wir beschreiben drei netzwerkanalytische Ansätze: Erstens präsentieren wir Netzwerkdaten graphisch, um die Struktur des Netzwerkes zu charakterisieren, durch die Information und Wissen über die Reform verbreitet werden. Zweitens verwenden wir soziale Einflussmodelle, um darzustellen, wie Überzeugungen und Verhalten von Lehrpersonen von denjenigen Lehrpersonen beeinflusst werden, mit denen sie interagieren. Drittens verwenden wir soziale Selektionsmodelle, um darzustellen, wie Lehrpersonen die Personen auswählen, mit denen sie die Reform betreffend interagieren. Wir diskutieren Implikationen für den wissenschaftlichen Dialog, die Bedeutung für bildungspolitische Studien sowie die praktische Bedeutung für bildungspolitische Akteure und Schulangestellte.

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Notes

  1. Directionality is not represented in Fig. 1 because close collegial relationships are used only to establish the underlying social structure. Arrowheads are used in Fig. 2 to show the flow of resources.

  2. There is a strong alignment of subgroups and grades in Westville because it had been reconfigured shortly before the time of data collection, drawing most of the second grade teachers from one school and most of the third grade teachers from another. Furthermore, the teachers’ room assignments reinforce grade assignments, as all but one of the second grade teachers are on one wing and all but one of the third grade teachers are on another wing.

  3. Because the metrics varied slightly between administrations of the instrument, each measure of use was standardized and then the difference was taken from the standardized measures. Each ring represents an increase of.2 standardized units.

  4. The skilled-based instructional practices include that teachers read stories or other imaginative texts; practice dictation (teacher reads and students write down words) about something the students are interested in; use context and pictures to read words; blend sounds to make words or segment the sounds in words; clap or sound out syllables of words; drill and practice sight words (e.g., as part of a competition); use phonics-based or letter-sound relationships to read words in sentences; use sentence meaning and structure to read words; and practice letter-sound associations (see Frank et al. 2013a, p. 12–13 for details).

  5. In this sense, the exposure term extends basic conceptualizations of centrality (e.g., Freeman 1978) because the exposure term is a function of the characteristics of the members of a network, whereas centrality is a function only of the structure of the network.

  6. see https://www.msu.edu/~kenfrank/resources.htm: influence models for SPSS, SAS and STATA modules and PowerPoint demonstrations that calculate a network effect and include it in a regression model.

  7. The difference between the estimates of β1 and β2 can be tested via a standard test of the difference between two regression coefficients (Cohen and Cohen 1983, p. 111). Or the difference can be tested by including a main effect for types of peers (e.g., an indicator of whether the peer is a formal leader) and then an interaction effect between peers and types of peers: peerii’ x formal leader.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education, Michigan State University, 220 Trowbridge Rd, 48824, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Kenneth A. Frank

  2. University of Michigan, 500S State St, 48109, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Yun-Jia Lo

  3. College of Education, University of Washington, BOX 353600, 98195, Seattle, WA, USA

    Min Sun

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  1. Kenneth A. Frank
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Correspondence to Kenneth A. Frank.

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Frank, K., Lo, YJ. & Sun, M. Social network analysis of the influences of educational reforms on teachers’ practices and interactions. Z Erziehungswiss 17 (Suppl 5), 117–134 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-014-0554-x

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