Abstract
The focus of this study was on the phenomenon of collaboration and the related role of ICTs, in the context of teachers working together in a secondary mathematics department. The learning theory of communities of practice, as it related to teachers in a mathematics subject department, and the field of social network analysis, gave the researcher the main theoretical framework from which to begin the investigation. Collaboration was limited in scope to represent that of advice and/or information collaborative interactions and joint work collaborative interactions. This was based on precedents in the most closely related studies and to ensure the research was feasible for the size of the study. The major motivation for doing the study was anchored in the widely recognised need for a better understanding of teacher collaboration, especially as it relates to modern educational systems that effectively leverage the power of networks and ICTs. The intention of the study was to uncover the underlying patterns of collaboration that took place in these departments, the value they added to the department and how they may be improved, given emerging best practice in this area. The study was completed in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic of the 2020 South African school year, which by necessity meant these departments were even more heavily reliant on ICTs than in conventional school years. The specific sample of schools examined consisted of five secondary mathematics departments, from high performing, quintile 5 government schools in Cape Town, South Africa. The researcher used a sequential explanatory mixed methods design to investigate the role of ICTs in collaboration amongst the teachers in these departments, and their related personal networks. Initially, the researcher gathered quantitative data using a recognised social network survey and then analysed this data using descriptive statistics and social network analysis methods. Thereafter, key informers were identified and engaged in semi-structured interviews related to emerging trends and the primary research objectives. This qualitative data was analysed using thematic content analysis methods. A final stage of interpretation followed, from which findings based on data from the entire study could be drawn. The findings indicated that ICTs played a significant role in providing a communication medium, largely email and apps connected to email, that allowed collaboration to take place and for schools to continue to function during challenging circumstances. The networks of collaborative interactions identified in the study exhibited patterns of subgroupings, high status connected individuals and a higher frequency of advice and information collaborative interactions, compared to the frequency of joint work. The effort from teachers to adapt their traditional workflows to utilize ICTs revealed an ability to rapidly upskill and the more vi transparent digital ways of working allowed teachers to learn from each other in previously underutilized or unknown ways. However, the findings also indicated teachers rarely go outside their departments for collaborations, with only a small minority, with pre-existing strong connections, observed doing so in this study. This study makes a unique contribution in giving a real representation and measurement of how collaboration takes place, from which future studies will benefit as they attempt to better understand the complex phenomenon of collaboration.
M.Ed. (ICT in Education)