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Investigating instructional influence in teachers' social networks

Maya Kaul (University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)
Jonathan Supovitz (University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)
Meghan Comstock (University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)

Journal of Professional Capital and Community

ISSN: 2056-9548

Article publication date: 24 June 2021

Issue publication date: 5 October 2021

238

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigates the reasons teachers seek instructional assistance from their colleagues. By examining both the reasons why teachers seek assistance and considering which reasons for seeking assistance predict shifts in teaching practice, this analysis provides new insights into how schools can leverage teachers' social networks for organizational change.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on interview and survey data from a sample of 52 schools across seven districts in the United States, we first qualitatively explore the reasons teachers seek instructional assistance, based on patterns in teachers' self-reported descriptions of their instructional advice-seeking. Then, we apply hierarchical linear models to predict which individual characteristics and organizational features influence the reasons' teachers seek assistance and which reasons for seeking assistance influence their subsequent shifts in teaching practice.

Findings

Teachers' positions in their social networks, their experience levels and their organizational contexts predict the reasons for which they seek instructional assistance. In addition, teachers seeking advice based on perceptions of their peers' experience or resource access predicts positive shifts in teaching practice; however, fewer than half of teachers' instructional-advice seeking ties reported in our sample were motivated by either of these two reasons.

Practical implications

The findings highlight the potential for school leaders and policymakers to improve teaching practice by making educators' experience and resources more accessible within schools and creating structures that enable collaboration.

Originality/value

This paper addresses a gap in social network literature by moving beyond a structuralist analysis of teachers' collegial networks to investigate teachers' motivations for pursuing advice-seeking ties.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Design and data collection for this work was supported by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, Grant 024137. Analysis and writing was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305B200035 to the University of Pennsylvania. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.

Citation

Kaul, M., Supovitz, J. and Comstock, M. (2021), "Investigating instructional influence in teachers' social networks", Journal of Professional Capital and Community, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 378-394. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPCC-11-2020-0086

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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