Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand how and in what ways networking served as a vehicle to informal learning among elementary school principals.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a multiple case study methodology across a ten-week period, studying six principals and conducting over 50 interviews. Six individual case studies were conducted, followed by a cross-case analysis.

Findings

This study found that a principal’s informal learning opportunities are just as important as formal ones, and often occur more frequently. Principals rely daily on a small network of other principals to informally learn about pressing challenges and situations in their schools. Informal learning allows principals to continually develop and refine their practices without the confines of formally set dates and times. Informal learning happens organically and is needs driven based on what knowledge a principal requires at a given point in time.

Originality/value

Although formal learning has been a focus in educational leadership research for the past 15 years, almost nothing is known about how principals informally learning. This study adds to the very limited body of research in the educational leadership field.

中文翻译：

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小学校长和非正式学习：利用网络

目的

本文的目的是了解网络如何以及以何种方式充当小学校长之间非正式学习的工具。

设计/方法/方法

作者在整个十周的时间内使用了多案例研究方法，研究了六位校长并进行了50多次访谈。进行了六个个案研究，然后进行了跨个案分析。

发现

这项研究发现，校长的非正式学习机会与正式学习机会一样重要，而且发生频率更高。校长每天依靠其他校长组成的小型网络非正式地了解学校面临的紧迫挑战和情况。非正式学习使校长能够不断发展和完善自己的实践，而不必拘泥于正式设定的日期和时间。非正式学习是有机发生的，它是根据校长在给定时间点所需要的知识来驱动需求的。

创意/价值

尽管在过去的15年中，正式学习一直是教育领导力研究的重点，但对于校长如何非正式学习几乎一无所知。这项研究增加了教育领导领域的研究范围。