Shifts in Teacher Social Networks and Views of Student Mathematical Capability: A Stacked Analysis

• In Event: Understanding Educational Improvement Through the Lens of Institutional and Organizational Theory: From Teacher Communities to Teacher Evaluation

Abstract

This mixed-methods case study analysis explores how shifts in both informal social networks and in collective views of mathematical instruction move together. We use social network survey data and audio recordings of teacher collaborative meetings about instructional issues to illuminate different parts of the change process: the teacher advice networks highlight who is central in the network (and how that changes); the audio recordings highlight how groups of teachers build collective conceptions of mathematics instruction (and how those change). Together, the two data sources add to the fields of social network theory, institutional theory, and mathematics teacher professional communities.

Authors

• Jessica Rigby, University of Washington

• Christine Joy Andrews-Larson, Florida State University

• I-Chien Chen, Michigan State University