Author: Jennifer Karnopp

Publisher:

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13:

This dissertation examines how educators in one rural district utilize organizational structures and informal social relationships to access and share knowledge about new instructional practices related to the implementation of a recent change initiative. This study employed an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design which utilized social network theory in the context of knowledge creation and structuration theories. Educators in all three schools that comprised a rural district in the Midwest participated a social network survey and this data was used to depict the flow of knowledge among district educators as well as to determine a purposive sample of interview participants. Social network analysis and thematic analysis findings determined that few knowledge interactions were reported between educators in different schools. Within-school interaction patterns differed based on the principals' interpretations of the initiative which informed their use of structures and allocation of resources within their buildings. Also, while organizational structures were somewhat important for facilitating educator access to knowledge, of critical importance was educator agency. By activating existing social relationships and/or initiating knowledge interactions with other easily accessible colleagues, educators developed routines of recursive interactions that often occurred outside of the formal organizational supports. Thus, educators developed their own informal knowledge creation spaces that received implicit or explicit support from school leaders. This interplay between formal structures and informal relationships was central to the flow of reform-related knowledge in this district. This study contributes to organizational theory by articulating a conceptualization of organizational learning that links knowledge creation and structuration theories. Findings also have implications for leadership research and practice in that they highlight the role of educator agency in educational change implementation and deepen understandings of how school leaders, formal structures and informal relationships interact to influence organizational outcomes.