This paper will analyse the social network emerging from teachers’ relationships in six Andalusian primary schools, and will identify the leadership distribution pattern of each network. Our aim using Social Network Analysis methodology in the framework of a wider research project about patterns and scope of school leadership distribution was to better know the web of social relationships that sustain school leadership. To do this, a School Social Network Questionnaire was designed and administered to the whole staff of the participating schools. The questionnaire included questions regarding four areas: teaching, school management, social relationships and personal support. Data collected were analysed by means of UCINET software. The analysis focused both on the actors’ centrality degree and several structural properties of the networks, such as their density, centralisation, and the number and composition of the cliques or groups participants. The results allowed the research team to identify some relevant patterns of school leadership: focused, multiple, alternative, and leadership void. Finally some conclusions are presented about the relevance of social network analysis in leadership studies.
López-Yáñez, J., Perera-Rodríguez, V.H., Bejarano-Bejarano, E., Del-Pozo-Redondo, M., & Budia, C. (2014). La trama social del liderazgo. Un estudio sobre las redes de colaboración docente en escuelas primarias. REICE. Revista Iberoamericana sobre Calidad, Eficacia y Cambio en Educación, 12(5),
99-117.
Retrieved from: http://www.rinace.net/reice/numeros/arts/vol12num5/art6.pdf