“social network hub”by Mathias.Pastwa is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

I have just finished reading Essential features of effective networks in education (2015) by Santiago Rincon-Gallardo and Michael Fullen.

On the first page of the article they make a statement about the level of research regarding social networks. “The key limitation derives from the scarce available evidence to date casually – or even co-relationally – connecting network activities with improved student learning. This paper summarizes what is known to date about effective collaboration in networks and advance a theory of action that casually links network activities with improved student outcomes and enhanced professional capital” (Gallardo and Fullen, 2015, p. 5). I do question this statement, but also trust Michael Fullen. This paper is four years old, so perhaps things have changed in the field since publication.

The term social network, in the article, is describing something broader than within a school, which would eliminate the traditional Professional Learning Community design. This makes sense because “we know a great deal about what makes for effective collaborative school cultures. We know a lot less about inter-school, inter-district, and multi-layered collaboratives” (Rincon-Gallardo and Fullen, 2015, p. 8).

In my own career, I have created and organized a numeracy network within my district. It is composed of volunteer teachers from most of our schools. We meet synchronously once a month. The agenda was typically something that I would generate, based on member feedback and input, although the level of member input has fluctuated over the three years. This last year we did a book study on Jo Boaler’s (@joboaler) book Mathematical Mindsets. Each month a different school would look into a chapter and attempt the strategies within their classroom. We would then have a debrief discussion about the findings and implications of the students.

I know this is not research, but I also know that a few of the teachers talked about the very positive outcomes they saw with their students in relation to the book study. They also talked about how they are adjusting their teaching practices in response. This makes me curious if there are more stories where a social network, as defined by Rincon-Gallardo and Michael Fullen, has a positive impact on student achievement.

Does anyone else have any anecdotal stories about how you feel social networks have influenced your classroom practices, and by extension, your student achievement? Please comment any thoughts and stories that you want to share below.