Teacher Reflection on their Agency for Change (TRAC) - A tool for school-based social network learning

Abstract

This short paper introduces an on-line log for Teachers’ Reflection on their Agency for Change (TRAC) designed to collect data and provide automatic visual feedback on teachers’ social networks. The TRAC tool was developed within a research project 'Making SENse of Teacher Agency for Change with Social and Epistemic Network Analysis'. The project aimed to understand how teachers exercise a form of relational agency defined as a capacity to work purposefully with others within and beyond schools, to support all learners, especially those at risk of exclusion, underachievement or other forms of marginalisation. Teachers’ reaching out to others and mobilising their social networks is an essential part of such agency. The study used Social and Epistemic Network Analysis to examine simultaneously the structural properties of teachers' social networks and the nature of content that flows through them. It also provided network visualisations and feedback to facilitate teachers’ professional reflection on how they use their relational agency to build inclusive school communities. The aim was to support teachers’ professional development by raising awareness about their individual and school network properties and nature of interactions within these networks. Part of the project was the development of the TRAC software that enabled teachers who engaged with a web-based reflective log to receive automatic feedback on their individual networks, as well as on thematic school networks, which were presented by the researchers in school development sessions. Network awareness – one’s knowledge of the resources embedded in their social ties – empowers teachers to improve the social environments of their schools. Provided alongside with the summary of research-based features of social network properties (degrees, diversity and intensity of ties), network feedback was used to facilitate professional and school development towards building inclusive communities. During the project, the TRAC tool was tested in partnerships with teachers and other staff in two schools in Stockholm. The project also had a knowledge exchange component to support relational and collaborative learning resulting from engagement with the network feedback. Network feedback based on the data from these sites was used to make adjustments to the prototype feedback tool. This short paper discusses the implications for future uses with a view towards rolling out research-informed professional reflection to larger numbers of schools and teachers anywhere, through dissemination in network learning community.