The Importance of Social Networks for Sustaining Teacher Commitment (Poster 32)

• In Event: AERA Virtual Poster Session 9
  In Poster Session: Teachers' Perspectives and Experiences

Abstract

In response to the often overwhelming challenges in the education field today, teachers are leaving the classroom at a worrying rate, resulting in instability for students, schools, and communities at large. Addressing this current crisis of teacher turnover, the purpose of this study was to provide insight into how social networks might support teacher commitment, delineating how some teachers overcome these challenges and stay in the classroom. Taking an integrated phenomenological approach, this study explored the social networks of seven veteran ELA teachers, employing social network theory to analyze how participants’ commitment to the classroom was developed and sustained. Using a constant-comparative methodology, the study found three themes surrounding the importance of social networks in teacher commitment.

Author

• Rebecca Stortz, University of Texas - San Antonio