Understanding the Social Side of Teacher Learning and Development

• In Event: 25.042 - Foregrounding the Social Side of Teacher Education and Development: Studies From China, England, New Zealand, Spain, and the United States

Abstract

Objectives
Research communities inside/outside education have demonstrated the important social aspect to succeed in improvement at both individual and organizational level (Çelik & Ekinci, 2012; Daly, 2010; Darling-Hammond, 2010; Kilduff & Tsai, 2003; OECD, 2013; Penuel et al., 2012; Pil & Leana, 2009). However, much of the efforts invested in teacher preparation and professional learning focuses on the technical aspect of development, e.g., knowledge/skills. There seems to be a need to re-conceptualize our understanding of teacher learning and professional development from a social capital’s perspective using a methodologically suitable tool to understand such complex social phenomena. This paper addresses:
1. the role of social capital and social network in teacher learning and professional development;
2. What this might mean for research and practice.

Framework
Concepts of social capital and social network/analysis is used to inform the social side of learning and development for both pre-service and in-service teachers. As individual learning and development involve cyclic social learning processes emphasizing norms of ongoing social interactions through which members exchange ideas/practices and transform/refine existing knowledge and skills (Frank et al., 2004), we further draw from Bandura’s social cognitive/learning theory to conceptualize the mechanisms of social connectivity. Further, we review empirical studies that examine the social connectivity of pre-service/in-service teachers and its relationship with individual/collective performance such as teaching outcomes, self-efficacy, peer trust, career choice, and leadership development. We aim to present evidence to support the important social role in the learning and development of different career stages.

Data and Methods
This conceptual paper attempts to establish a framework that is grounded on relevant theories and studies about social side of teacher learning and professional development. We draw from social capital theorists’ work such as Coleman, Lin, and Nahapiet and Ghoshal and social network scholars’ work including Borgatti, Burt, Granovetter, as well as Bandura’s social learning/cognitive theory to guide our framework. We further review studies that took a social network approach to examining: pre-service teachers’ learning (Bokhove & Downey, 2018), teaching performance (Authors et al., 2016), in-service teachers’ student learning (Pil & Leana, 2009), professional development (Penuel et al., 2012), and teacher leadership (Hopkins et al., 2013; Spillane et al., 2015).

Results
This paper proposed that: 1) structural aspect of social capital is consequential for exchange of instructional practice and teaching outcomes; 2) relational aspect of social capital (e.g., peer/collegial trust) is key to facilitate social connectivity; 3) cognitive aspect of social capital (e.g., shared self-efficacy beliefs) plays an important role in the social network position of pre-/in-service teachers and in career decision-making; and 4) affective aspect of social capital (e.g., friendship, social support) promote the well-being and professional commitment.

Significance
This paper presents a framework for understanding the social side of teacher learning and development in different career stages of profession. The framework may serve as a useful lens for the field to re-think the design of learning and conditions in facilitating the development, sustaining, and accumulation of social capital during teacher education and professional development in a more systematic matter.

Authors

• Yi-Hwa Liou, National Taipei University of Education

• Esther T. Canrinus, University of Agder