Educational Leaders, Social Capital, and the Benefits of Inter-School Networks

• In Event: Educational Leaders Maximizing the Social Capital Benefits of Networks: Thoughts From an International Symposium

Abstract

Objectives: Previous research suggests that teachers’ access to a wide pool of inter-school social capital can lead to beneficial teacher outcomes: both in terms of aiding teachers’ learning as well as that of their students (Demir, 2021). Yet, despite the benefits and increased focus on inter-school networks for enabling change, there is little unified understanding of how school leaders can capitalise on the potential benefits offered by inter-school social capital opportunities. This is both in terms of identifying which inter-school networks might yield the most gain for their school; as well as how school leaders can ensure that teacher involvement in inter-school networks leads to in new sources of social capital being successfully harnessed. Given this context, with this paper, we explore the following three research questions: 1) What inter-school social capital network opportunities are available to teachers in primary and secondary schools internationally? 2) What network and community features and activities are present within inter-school social capital development networks? 3) What evidence is there of the impact of the inter-school social capital network approaches for improving school, teaching and students’ learning outcomes? Which of type of inter-school network opportunities (RQ1) and what features of inter-school networks (RQ2) appear most impactful?

Methods: To address our research questions, we employed a systematic review methodology, i.e.: “a review of research literature using systematic and explicit, accountable methods” Gough et al., (2013: 2). Our review comprised five stages (1) defining inclusion criteria; 2) searching for outputs; 3) screening outputs; 4) assessing quality; and 5) synthesising findings; and we utilised the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and MetaAnalyses: PRISMA, 2021) protocol, to guide the review process.

Data Source: Our review initially identified of 1,221 outputs and our screening process resulted in a final sample of 110. Of this final set of 110 outputs, we note that 93 were peer reviewed articles, 15 were book chapters or books and 2 were national or local government reviews. The methodological design of these studies includes: 1 survey, 60 case studies, 11 theoretical or instrumental reports, 15 experimental designs to test hypotheses, 4 analysis of publicly available data, 3 reviews of literature and 6 mixed methods studies.

Results: Findings from the review indicate that a number of inter-school social capital network opportunities are available to educators. Further a myriad of key features can be found present in inter-school social capital development networks. These can be corralled under the substantive headings of a) who participates; b) activities undertaken within the network; c) mode of enactment; d) frequency of the network; and e) duration of the network. Our review also found, however, that there is little high quality rigourous evidence that can link impact of the inter-school social capital network approaches for improving school, teaching and students’ learning outcomes. Correspondingly, we conclude that if school leaders wish to engage in inter-school social capital networks to improve teacher quality, at this stage extant research can only offer promising ideas on which might make the most network opportunities.

Authors

• Chris Brown, University of Southampton

• Ruth Luzmore, University of Southampton