Network Logic - Index of

Networks, knowledge and innovation
link between certain approaches to teachers’ professional development
and student achievement, then, as is implicitly suggested, this
may extend beyond student writing and apply to a far wider range of
teacher practices in classrooms. It could potentially entail the
discovery of what has hitherto been elusive: teacher-friendly ways
to engage with professional development resulting in improved
student outcomes, to the delight of politicians demanding higher
standards.
The reluctance to formulate any hypotheses is thus a surprise as
well as a pity, for 15 years ago Lieberman presciently understood the
need for some hard analysis:
We often think of solving problems in our own institutions. We
rarely think of forming coalitions or networks outside existing
formal channels. And it is even rarer that we think of loose,
informal collections of people (networks) as catalysts for change.
We may very well be in a period where we grossly underestimate
both the attack on teachers and the amount of support needed to
make improvements in practice… Our concern is understanding
[networks] from the inside, getting a sense of the subtleties, and
using examples as a way of conceptualising what we know about
networks. 2
At that time, the key ingredients of a successful network, derived from
their analysis of educational networks then in existence, were:
organising for participation
developmental substance or some agreed content
developmental mechanism for network interaction and
sharing
planning new rewards, including experimenting with new
ideas
problem-solving orientation to help participants find
their own solutions to problems
diagnosis of what participants know and need
Demos 81