Synthesizing as a power-laden facilitation practice in a networked improvement community
Journal of Professional Capital and Community
ISSN: 2056-9548
Article publication date: 27 February 2023
Issue publication date: 16 March 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine an essential component of enacting an improvement network: facilitation. In it, the author surfaces synthesizing as a core, power-laden facilitation practice that brought together network members from disparate institutions to converge on a shared network aim and theory of improvement.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is situated within a teacher preparation improvement network. Forty-four teacher educators from seven university-based teacher preparation programs participated in the network. Guided by practice theory (Feldman and Orlikowski, 2011), the author collected and analyzed network meetings and artifacts to unveil facilitation practices and their relation to power.
Findings
Synthesizing emerged as a central facilitation practice. Facilitators' engagement in this practice produced power by constraining and enabling how network members participated. Finally, facilitators were systematically and advantageously positioned to prioritize some network members' perspectives while peripheralizing others'.
Practical implications
This paper offers a concrete, detailed window into a core facilitation practice in a network and problematizes it to enable network leaders to be deliberate about facilitation decisions.
Originality/value
Facilitation is a central component of effective networks (Rincón-Gallardo and Fullan, 2016) and is considered central to the work of networked improvement (Bryk et al., 2015), but there exists a dearth of research that offers insights into how facilitation comes to be enacted in practice. This study offers detailed insights into one such facilitation practice.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the University of California Office of the President. The author wishes to thank Elizabeth van Es for her comments and guidance on this work, as well as the teacher educators who generously participated in this network.
Citation
Sandoval, C. (2023), "Synthesizing as a power-laden facilitation practice in a networked improvement community", Journal of Professional Capital and Community, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 47-61. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPCC-06-2022-0033
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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