District Policy and Teachers’ Social Networks

TLDR

Policy makers increasingly embed provisions to foster professional communities in reform initiatives, yet little is known about their impact on teachers’ professional relations in schools. The study explores how district policies shape teachers’ social networks in eight elementary schools, aiming to uncover the dynamics that foster social capital and identify intervention opportunities for policy designers. The authors use qualitative social network analysis grounded in social capital theory to examine how district policies influence teachers’ social networks across eight elementary schools in two districts. The study finds that policy shapes which teachers are consulted for mathematics instruction and that variations in policy provisions alter the nature and quality of interactions, with school leaders mediating these patterns.

Abstract

Policy makers increasingly include provisions aimed at fostering professional community as part of reform initiatives. Yet little is known about the impact of policy on teachers’ professional relations in schools. Drawing theoretically from social capital theory and methodologically from qualitative social network analysis, this article explores how district policies influence teachers’ social networks in eight elementary schools in two districts involved in the scale-up of mathematics curriculum. It is argued that policy affects whom teachers seek out for discussion of mathematics instruction but that differences in policy provisions lead to variations in the nature and quality of interactions. Furthermore, school leaders mediate district policy, thereby influencing these patterns of interaction. By uncovering the dynamics by which policy influences teachers’ social networks, this article contributes to understandings of the factors that foster the development of social capital. It also uncovers opportunities for intervention for those designing policy initiatives to support implementation of instructional innovations.