Bringing Leaders Together: Social Capital Development in a Principal Network

Abstract

This thesis is made up of three articles that investigate one district’s attempt to promote collaboration among its principals. The first article uses the lens of design, focusing on the affordances and constraints of specific design features of the collaborative initiative. The second article investigates how several different groups of principals engaged in their work over time, and explores the conditions that promoted effective co-operation and learning among some groups. The third article focuses on principals’ social networks. It explores how principals’ advice networks change over the course of the initiative, and helps uncover the individual and group-level factors that account for network growth. The studies draw concepts from various literatures, including organizational theory, network studies, and teams. However, they are all held together by the concept of social capital, which serves as the overarching outcome of interest across the three studies. Results have implications for district leaders who are considering promoting collaboration among their principals. Results are also relevant for researchers who are interested in the relationship between the design of professional collaboration, group processes, and the development of social networks and social capital.