What would participating in an SNA study look like?
I'll be on site for 3-5 working days to collect network data.
Step #1
All staff complete an 8-question online survey. I also conduct pre-scheduled 15-min interviews with a majority of staff during a short school visit. |
Step #2
The appropriate working group or committee completes a custom rubric to self-assess progress towards adoption of an ongoing innovation. |
Step #3
Use your network diagram and custom analysis to accelerate and support the innovation. |
How will your school benefit from participating?
Quality research requires strong partnerships. This research aims to be mutually beneficial to the academic community and your school staff. Participating in this research will provide your school with unique insights into your organization. Specifically, you will be given a network diagram and be provided a custom network analysis in exchange for your participation.
Network data is both exciting and informative. Understanding your organization through formal titles fails to account for the numerous informal relationships that often drive organizational performance. This research will provide your school with a much more accurate profile for how work gets done.
Realizing the full potential of any innovation is challenging. Innovation expression can vary a great deal across a school organization. This unique data can help further innovation expression.
If interested in participating:
Realizing the full potential of any innovation is challenging. Innovation expression can vary a great deal across a school organization. This unique data can help further innovation expression.
If interested in participating:
What will your school network look like?
Mapping Professional RelationshipsSchool networks can look very different. During the course of an academic year, an educator will work with many different people. Therefore, your school network usually changes throughout the school year. Implementing any change requires the spread of new information. This information will spread through both formal working relationships and informal support networks within your school organization.
As a social network researcher, I try to account for all relevant relationship ties between professional educators. I then differentiate between actors based on their relevant knowledge with respect to an ongoing change initiative. In order to accelerate change, your school community needs to leverage those with relevant knowledge to share. |
Central ActorsA popular use of SNA is to identify central actors. Centrality is defined as an actor that is extensively involved in relationships with other actors in the network. Central actors tend to be more visible within the organization.
Through their relationships, central actors have greater access and control over resources and information. There are many different ways to measure the centrality of an actor. This network diagram measures Betweenness Centrality. This metric differentiates actors based on their ability to control the flow of resources within a network. |
Is your school interested in visualizing and measuring innovation expression?
I am currently looking for schools that would like to participate in this network research. Please contact me to discuss if a partnership might be mutually beneficial.
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