Exploring the conditions for academic teachers’ informal collegial learning about teaching. A social network approach.

Abstract

Teaching is widely regarded as a profession characterised by isolation. Teachers’ isolation can be an obstacle to their informal social learning. This paper takes a look at the extent of higher education teachers’ isolation and their conditions for teaching-related learning from colleagues. Based on a network interpretation of communities of practice, it applies social network analysis to the collegial relations of 40 professors at a Fachhochschule (German higher education institution). The study finds that while some professors are indeed isolated, a strong minority engage in various communities of teaching practice. However, these communities tend to be connected only by few individuals acting as informal hubs for teaching ideas. Informal collegial learning may thus be obstructed more by a shortage of highly connected professors than by isolated ones. Possible interventions should aim at increasing the density of weak ties across the organisation.