Teams as Network Builders: Analysing network contacts in Finish elementary school teacher teams

Abstract

This article examines two teams of elementary school teachers in terms of analysing the preconditions and obstacles to their efforts in building network contacts and crossing the boundaries within their school. The network contacts are analysed in the process of planning and implementation of curriculum units by the teams in two different years. The study is based on three types of data, namely teacher interviews, team meeting discourses and observational data on the events in and around the classroom. From the viewpoint of Cultural Historical Activity Theory, this article shows how the teachers' work can be described as the building of network contacts. The teacher teams under study built network contacts within the school, as well as in relation to the students' homes and the outside world. The first team studied could be characterized as a cooperation team, the second as a coordination team. A key finding of the study is the realization that breaking the traditional work patterns of teachers, namely that of individuals planning and implementing their lessons single handedly, results from the team, in cooperation, building a shared object. The methodological findings show the significance of using all three types of data as complementing each other in constructing a picture of the teacher teams as network builders.