Enhancing use of learning sciences research in planning for and supporting educational change: Leveraging and building social networks

Penuel, William R.; Bell, Philip; Bevan, Bronwyn; Buffington, Pam; Falk, Joni

doi:10.1007/s10833-015-9266-0

Cited by 21 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…Building on this are actionable opportunities to better integrate research and practice. Based on our findings, joining professional associations and attending conferences where education leaders are accessing research may be an important strategy for researchers to pursue (for one strategy, see Penuel, Bell, Bevan, Buffington, & Falk, 2016). Connecting directly to leaders through long-term research-practice partnerships is another strategy that has shown some promise for improving the connections between research and practice (see Coburn & Penuel, 2016, for reviews; Contandriopoulos et al, 2010; National Research Council, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Attending, presenting, and even joining professional associations of leaders could be a more viable strategy for increasing research use. Not only does becoming part of such associations help researchers gain a better sense of the problems that school and district leaders are facing, it also builds trusting relationships that become the basis for leaders turning to researchers for advice (Penuel, Bell, et al, 2016). Intentional efforts to promote research access and use through professional associations should be studied and compared with other approaches, such as traditional web-based dissemination.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How School and District Leaders Access, Perceive, and Use Research

et al. 2017

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This study examined how school and district leaders access, value, and use research. From a representative sample of school districts across the United States, we surveyed 733 school and district leaders as part of an effort to develop understanding of the prevalence of research use, the nature of leaders’ attitudes toward research, and individual and organizational correlates of research use. School and district leaders alike reported frequent use of research use and generally positive attitudes toward research. Leaders reported accessing research primarily through their professional networks. Those in certain roles, those pursuing or holding an advanced degree, and those who reported a strong organizational culture of evidence use reported higher levels of research use. These findings suggest that policy efforts to promote evidence use among education leaders will be welcomed but that policy makers need to take into account the prevalence of various types of research use in designing supports for evidence use.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How School and District Leaders Access, Perceive, and Use Research

et al. 2017

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“…, Penuel et al. ). In the informal education sphere, researchers, practitioners and even funders have endeavored to bridge the divide.…”

Section: Bringing Together Practice and Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introducing the Research and Practice Forum

Gutwill¹

2016

Curator The Museum Journal

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“…Agency for change is often framed as a matter of implementing some kind of bigger, external change agenda. For example, research has provided useful insights on how teachers exercise agency to implement new national standards (Penuel et al 2016). However, we also know that teachers sometimes exercise agency to adapt to or resist change (Buchanan 2015;Datnow et al 2002;Lockton and Fargason 2019), for example when there is a dissonance between their own beliefs and the change they are being asked to make (Buchanan 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making sense of teacher agency for change with social and epistemic network analysis

et al. 2021

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Reference to teachers as agents of change has become commonplace in the education literature, including change toward more inclusive practice in response to the changing demographic of schooling. Yet, little is known about how teacher agency relates to (1) their understanding of, and commitment to any given change agenda and (2) the institutional and social structures through which they are able to access knowledge and resources within and beyond their schools. This study combined social and epistemic network analysis to examine teachers’ understanding of change and their sense of agency as they use their social networks to mobilise support for furthering change that matters to them. Our study is the first to apply this learning analytic approach in a real setting context. We used theories of teacher agency and inclusive pedagogy to interpret teachers’ social interactions in light of the extent to which they seek to make a difference toward greater inclusion. We collected data with an online log completed by teachers and other staff in two schools in Sweden over 6 months. The findings suggest that teachers understanding of change is embedded in their day-to-day activities such as student support, lesson planning, improvement of programs, and working conditions. Teachers tend to exercise agency toward inclusion when they seek to support student learning and well-being. When teachers act as agents of change, their social networks are bigger, more diverse and more collaborative than in situations in which they act as role implementers. We discuss substantive and methodological implications of these findings.

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Enhancing use of learning sciences research in planning for and supporting educational change: Leveraging and building social networks

Cited by 21 publications

References 82 publications

How School and District Leaders Access, Perceive, and Use Research

How School and District Leaders Access, Perceive, and Use Research

Introducing the Research and Practice Forum

Making sense of teacher agency for change with social and epistemic network analysis

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