Linked to innovation: Shaping an innovative climate through network intentionality and educators’ social network position

This study investigates whether educators’ cognitive and structural social capital is associated with perceptions of innovative climate in charter schools. We explore a new concept to assess educators’ cognitive social capital, namely network intentionality, meaning the extent to which an educator is intentional in connecting and interacting with others. We hypothesize that network intentionality (cognitive social capital) is related to the extent to which educators perceive their school’s climate to be innovative, but that this relationship is dependent on the educator’s position in their school’s social network (structural social capital). Findings suggest that the relationship between cognitive social capital and perceptions of innovative climate is partly mediated by structural social capital. In other words, those educators with high network intentionality, as evidenced by an orientation towards connecting others, also perceive the school’s climate as being more innovative, partly because this strong network intentionality is associated with more out-going relational activity. This work provides unique insights into the factors that may be associated with teacher collaboration in successful charter schools serving traditionally underserved populations, and suggests ideas for schools wishing to support teacher collaboration and innovation.

[1]  F. Damanpour,et al.  Organizational innovation and performance: The problem of "organizational lag." , 1984 .

[2]  D. Withers,et al.  Ageing: Out with the old , 2016, Nature.

[3]  J. Hage.  Organizational innovation and organizational change , 1999 .

[4]  D P MacKinnon,et al.  Multilevel Mediation Modeling in Group-Based Intervention Studies , 1999, Evaluation review.

[5]  Robert K. Yin,et al.  Applications of case study research , 1993 .

[6]  S. Borgatti,et al.  Network Measures of Social Capital , 2012 .

[7]  Arvind Parkhe,et al.  Orchestrating Innovation Networks , 2006 .

[8]  Anthony S. Bryk,et al.  Finding a Measure of Trust@@@Trust in Schools: A Core Resource for Improvement , 2004 .

[9]  Wenpin Tsai.  Knowledge Transfer in Intraorganizational Networks: Effects of Network Position and Absorptive Capacity on Business Unit Innovation and Performance , 2001 .

[10]  Chang-Hyun Jin.  Social Capital Index , 2015 .

[11]  R. Burt.  Brokerage and Closure: An Introduction to Social Capital , 2005 .

[12]  D. Beijaard,et al.  Exploring knowledge processes based on teacher research in a school–university research network of a master’s program , 2013 .

[13]  Caitlin C. Farrell,et al.  Charter Management Organizations , 2012 .

[14]  S. Ghoshal,et al.  Social Capital, Intellectual Capital, and the Organizational Advantage , 1998 .

[15]  Wenpin Tsai,et al.  Social networks and organizations , 2003 .

[16]  R. Atkinson,et al.  Better Research Needed on the Impact of Charter Schools , 2012, Science.

[17]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  Data analysis in social psychology. , 1998 .

[18]  Sylwia Męcfal.  Recenzja książki. Robert K. yin, Case Study Research. Design and Methods (fourth Edition), thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2009 , 2012 .

[19]  E. D. Vliert,et al.  Location-Level Links Between Diversity and Innovative Climate Depend on National Power Distance , 2005 .

[20]  Philip Hallinger,et al.  Second international handbook of educational leadership and administration , 1996 .

[21]  K. Frank,et al.  Social Capital and the Diffusion of Innovations Within Organizations: The Case of Computer Technology in Schools , 2004 .

[22]  C. Coburn,et al.  District Policy and Teachers’ Social Networks , 2008 .

[23]  Frank Cornelissen,et al.  Aspects of school–university research networks that play a role in developing, sharing and using knowledge based on teacher research , 2011 .

[24]  L. Lipponen,et al.  Models of Innovative Knowledge Communities and Three Metaphors of Learning , 2004 .

[25]  N. Moolenaar,et al.  Social Networks, Trust, and Innovation. How social relationships support trust and innovative climates in Dutch schools , 2010 .

[26]  S. Borgatti,et al.  Making Invisible Work Visible: Using Social Network Analysis to Support Strategic Collaboration , 2002 .

[27]  S. Fiske,et al.  The Handbook of Social Psychology , 1935 .

[28]  B. Kogut,et al.  Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology , 1992 .

[29]  Peter Sleegers,et al.  Building Innovative Capacity and Leadership , 1996 .

[30]  Joseph Murphy,et al.  Handbook of Research on Educational Administration , 1999 .

[31]  Philippe Baumard,et al.  Learning from Failures: Why it May Not Happen , 2005 .

[32]  Andrew Parker,et al.  The Hidden Power of Social Networks: Understanding How Work Really Gets Done in Organizations , 2004 .

[33]  N. Moolenaar.  Ties with Potential: Nature, antecedents, and consequences of social networks in school teams , 2010 .

[34]  A. Daly,et al.  More than a master: developing, sharing, and using knowledge in school–university research networks , 2014 .

[35]  A. Daly,et al.  Accessing Capital Resources: Investigating the Effects of Teacher Human and Social Capital on Student Achievement , 2014, Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education.

[36]  Alan J. Daly,et al.  Teaming Up: Linking Collaboration Networks, Collective Efficacy, and Student Achievement. , 2012 .

[37]  S. Greenberg,et al.  The Importance of Awareness for Team Cognition in Distributed Collaboration , 2001 .

[38]  N. Lin.  Social Capital: Frontmatter , 2001 .

[39]  Kara S. Finnigan,et al.  Mind the Gap: Organizational Learning and Improvement in an Underperforming Urban System , 2012, American Journal of Education.

[40]  P. Gleason,et al.  The Evaluation of Charter School Impacts: Final Report. NCEE 2010-4029. , 2010 .

[41]  David Obstfeld.  Social Networks, the Tertius Iungens Orientation, and Involvement in Innovation , 2005 .

[42]  R. Kanter.  The Change Masters , 1983 .

[43]  R. Gulati.  Is Slack Good or Bad for Innovation ? , 2007 .

[44]  A. Daly,et al.  Ties with Potential: Social Network Structure and Innovative Climate in Dutch Schools , 2011, Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education.

[45]  J. Pearl.  Causality: Models, Reasoning and Inference , 2000 .

[46]  M. Stein,et al.  Supporting Sustainability: Teachers’ Advice Networks and Ambitious Instructional Reform , 2012, American Journal of Education.

[47]  Peter R. Monge,et al.  Communication and Motivational Predictors of the Dynamics of Organizational Innovation , 1992 .

[48]  Courtney Preston,et al.  School innovation in district context: Comparing traditional public schools and charter schools , 2012 .

[49]  S. Borgatti,et al.  The Network Paradigm in Organizational Research: A Review and Typology , 2003 .

[50]  C. Lubienski,et al.  The charter school experiment : expectations, evidence, and implications , 2010 .

[51]  Kara S. Finnigan,et al.  Misalignment and Perverse Incentives , 2014 .

[52]  Eric M. Camburn,et al.  Professional Community in Chicago Elementary Schools: Facilitating Factors and Organizational Consequences , 1997 .

[53]  M. Sobel.  Asymptotic Confidence Intervals for Indirect Effects in Structural Equation Models , 1982 .

[54]  F. Geijsel.  Schools and innovations: conditions fostering the implementation of educational innovations , 2001 .

[55]  Andrew C. Inkpen,et al.  Social Capital, Networks, and Knowledge Transfer , 2005 .

[56]  D. Mackinnon,et al.  Multilevel Modeling of Individual and Group Level Mediated Effects , 2001, Multivariate behavioral research.

[57]  P. Dasgupta,et al.  Social capital : a multifaceted perspective , 1999 .

[58]  A. Daly,et al.  The social fabric of elementary schools: a network typology of social interaction among teachers , 2012 .

[59]  S. D. Berkowitz,et al.  Social Structures: A Network Approach , 1989 .

[60]  E. Salas,et al.  Team cognition : understanding the factors that drive process and performance , 2004 .

[61]  Megan Tschannen-Moran,et al.  A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation of Teacher Collaboration for School Improvement and Student Achievement in Public Elementary Schools , 2007, Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education.

[62]  Rosanna Garcia,et al.  The Effects of Environmental Turbulence on New Product Development Strategy Planning , 2003 .

[63]  N. Moolenaar.  A Social Network Perspective on Teacher Collaboration in Schools: Theory, Methodology, and Applications , 2012, American Journal of Education.

[64]  B. Uzzi,et al.  Social Structure and Competition in Interfirm Networks: The Paradox of Embeddedness , 1997 .

[65]  J. Coleman,et al.  Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital , 1988, American Journal of Sociology.

[66]  Robin J. Lake.  In the Eye of the Beholder: Charter Schools and Innovation , 2008 .

[67]  A. Daly.  Social Network Theory and Educational Change. , 2010 .

[68]  N. Uphoff.  Understanding social capital: learning from the analysis and experience of participation , 2005 .

[69]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[70]  Richard L. Daft,et al.  Innovation in Organizations: Innovation Adoption in School Organizations. , 1979 .

[71]  Charles E. Bidwell,et al.  The Collegial Focus and High School Students' Achievement , 2001 .

[72]  Fred M. Newmann.  Authentic Achievement: Restructuring Schools for Intellectual Quality , 1996 .

[73]  A. Daly,et al.  Toward Conceptual Clarity , 2013, The Elementary School Journal.

[74]  Jorge Caiado,et al.  Interrelationships between human capital and social capital in small and medium sized firms: The effect of age and sector of activity , 2009 .

[75]  Natalya Verbitsky-Savitz,et al.  The National Study of Charter Management Organization (CMO) Effectiveness. Charter-School Management Organizations: Diverse Strategies and Diverse Student Impacts. , 2011 .

[76]  I. Nonaka,et al.  The Knowledge Creating Company , 2008 .

[77]  William R. Penuel,et al.  Using Social Network Analysis to Study How Collegial Interactions Can Augment Teacher Learning from External Professional Development , 2012, American Journal of Education.

[78]  N. Uphoff,et al.  The Role of Social Capital in Development: Mapping and measuring social capital through assessment of collective action to conserve and develop watersheds in Rajasthan, India , 2002 .

[79]  Amanda Datnow.  Teacher Agency in Educational Reform: Lessons from Social Networks Research , 2012, American Journal of Education.

[80]  David Holman,et al.  Social networkers: Measuring and examining individual differences in propensity to connect with others , 2008, Soc. Networks.

[81]  Alan J. Daly,et al.  Social Networks in Education: Exploring the Social Side of the Reform Equation , 2012, American Journal of Education.

[82]  N. Lin.  Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action , 2001 .

[83]  R. Burt.  A note on social capital and network content , 1997 .

[84]  Klaas van Veen,et al.  Ties with potential: Nature, antecedents, and consequences of social networks in school teams , 2011 .

[85]  Stanley Wasserman,et al.  Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications , 1994 .