How educational leaders can maximise the social capital benefits of inter-school networks: findings from a systematic review

Abstract

Educators need to engage in continuous learning to ensure that their knowledge and practice responds to the changing needs of society and students. Collaborative approaches in which social capital resource (e.g. knowledge, resource and support) is exchanged with colleagues can serve as an effective way of facilitating such learning. Analyses of the benefits of social capital networks have primarily focused on intra-school communities of teachers from individual schools. However, inter-school networks are potentially richer sources of social capital, since they offer access to resources beyond that already available. With this systematic review, we seek to identify: 1) what inter-school networks are available internationally; 2) the features and activities present within them; and 3) evidence of impact. Our findings derive from 111 research outputs and highlight: the diverse range of different inter-school networks that exist, their myriad purposes and how these networks are enacted. Simultaneously, however, our review only identifies limited reliable evidence of the impact of inter-school social capital networks. We conclude by identifying what research is needed in future to improve our understanding of inter-school social capital networks.

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ORCID for Chris Brown: orcid.org/0000-0002-9759-9624

ORCID for Ruth Luzmore: orcid.org/0000-0002-2454-9407

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