How the Drive to Be Socially Connected Can Lead to School Improvement

We often think of a school improvement initiative as occurring in uniform stages toward some predetermined end goal in a strategic plan. Everyone moves together on the same path toward the same destination.

This is a transactional view of change that doesn’t consider the complexity of humans and the challenge of scaling sustainable and meaningful change. We hold different beliefs about what matters in education, have complex identities both inside and outside of our schools, and are highly influenced by our social context. 

As the research below shows, complex change—that which leads to lasting behavioral change—is both social and nonlinear. Using the science of networks can enable school leaders to design and implement more humane and enduring school improvement initiatives that build on our desire to be socially connected.

Individual Learning depends on Social Learning

Recent books such as Alex Pentland’s Social Physics: How Social Networks Can Make Us Smarter and Damon Centola’s Change: How to Make Big Things Happen reiterate the power of social networks in enabling change. For instance, in a variety of studies using big data, Pentland concluded that synchronizing break times in the workplace leads to increased productivity and that peer rewards (where individuals were paired and asked to work toward the same goal for a reward) drastically increased goal completion. 

The big idea of their research into social change is that individual learning depends on group learning. Because school improvement initiatives are often about changing established beliefs and social norms related to teaching and learning, there will inevitably be individual resistance. Yet our ability to see others engaging in these behaviors can establish the social proof necessary to view the change as legitimate and worthy. The flow of ideas within our social networks can shape our individual behaviors. So what does this mean for the design of school improvement initiatives?

Designing Complex Contagions

Successful school improvement initiatives require complex contagions. Simple contagions, where information travels fast across a social network (think funny video or meme), spread easily but don’t lead to behavioral change. Simple contagions can spread in a network of weak ties passed on by acquaintances or strangers. Centola uses the idea of fireworks to describe these kinds of contagions; one connection can directly spread information to many. The information spreads fast and far, but only superficially.

On the other hand, complex contagions—those that lead to behavioral change—require strong ties to people we trust, respect, and admire (think changes such as embracing culturally responsive pedagogy or adopting authentic assessments). This is because of the perceived risk of change, in particular if it means our standing or reputation might be perceived differently by our social networks.

Centola describes these networks as fishing nets. The spread of ideas is slower, traveling from neighbor to neighbor. That said, the interconnectedness of the network means that people see change occurring across multiple strong ties at the same time, influencing them to adopt. 

One way to produce complex contagions within our schools is to take a staged approach to improvement initiatives. Instead of asking all teachers to take part from the beginning, some early adopter groups can trial, model, and share about the change before it is more widely implemented. For example, specific departments or grade levels within a school can opt in to be part of the first cohort of teachers who will engage in a proposed change. 

These individuals, excited and motivated by the change, can develop authentic stories about how the initiative supports students in the classroom. They will share stories formally and informally with colleagues to generate inspiration and reiterate the importance of the change. Inviting colleagues to take part who are connected and/or geographically close to each other can build the tipping point that is required for wide-scale adoption. 

It’s important to note that the most connected and influential teachers are not necessarily the best people to include at the beginning of a change initiative; their social networks may dissuade them from taking risks that compromise their standing. Teachers on the periphery of the network may be more likely to be pioneers.               

Knowing What’s Relevant to People Matters

Viewing a change as relevant is also key to the adoption of new behaviors in school. Yet what’s viewed as relevant is also subjective: Sometimes we want to see people like us adopting the change, and sometimes we want to see people different from us adopting the change. Centola shares three relevance principles. 

1. If we need to view a change as useful to us, we benefit from seeing people similar to us adopting it.           
2. If we need to create emotional excitement or loyalty, the same is true (benefit from similarity).
3. However, if we need to believe that a change is widely accepted, we benefit from seeing a diverse set of people adopting it.          

School leaders can use these three relevance principles to design improvement initiatives that speak to the needs of their teachers. Likewise we may strategically mix and match examples, starting with an initial presentation to show the wide-scale adoption of proposed change, followed by a session with teachers within the school sharing how they have implemented the change in their classrooms.

Tipping Points are Real 

The idea of tipping points, moments of critical mass, may make us think of Derek Sivers’s TED Talk “How to Start a Movement.” In the video, we witness a sole individual dancing on a hill. Through the inclusion of some brave followers, eventually the dancing few turn into a movement of hundreds of people. The video provides an excellent visual metaphor of how tipping points function: Once the number of advocates of a change grows, the risk of adoption goes down. It becomes “safer” to embrace a change when it is broadly supported. 

What’s interesting is that studies have now quantified the idea of a tipping point. If we want sustainable and lasting change, schools require at least 25 percent of teachers to advocate for those behaviors. The magic number is 25 percent. In school improvement initiatives, leaders can responsively plan by assessing the number of advocates.

If the number of adoptees is still less than 25 percent, leaders may opt to continue with an initiative in a staged manner to create a broader base for change. Then, once it’s clear that the 25 percent threshold has been reached, the change may be extended to the rest of the teaching staff. In this way, we can shape social networks that are more receptive and responsive to a proposed change.