Study on Subject Teachers’ Professional Networks Outside of School Setting:

Junior High School Home Economics Teachers and Their Networks

Abstract

  This study shows the development of a cooperative network of home economic teachers in junior high schools. This study analyzes the relation between such network of teachers and the teaching materials they use.

  Eight teachers were interviewed. Two interviewees were selected from each generation group of 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s in age. For analyzing the interview, the ego-centric network of the social network analysis was applied. Some of the home economics teachers have a network with the same-professional teachers in the same area, and thus this study focused on their network to be analyzed.

  This study sets the following hypotheses. First, home economics teachers of junior high school do networking with teachers of the same subject in other schools. Second, the information sharing about teaching materials and the relationships mediated by such materials, impact the selection of materials that teachers use for their classes. This study confirms these hypotheses to be true.

  In addition, the following points were revealed by this survey. (1) In the process of building a network, teachers who serve as hubs connecting other teachers in same area may stimulate network formation and development. The existence of predecessors serving as hubs functioned to the advantage of the formation and subsequent development of networks between teachers. (2) The network of teachers provides opportunities for a cooperative development of their teaching materials, leading to improvements of their classes. Therefore, for a teacher it is important that he/she is in contact with other teachers through such network.

  As a result, it became clear that, beyond relationships between colleagues in a school, networking between teachers of same subject in different schools plays an important role.