Teacher isolation and communication network analysis in primary schools

The aim of this study is to analyze teacher isolation at the level of commu nication behavior of teachers. The usefulness of communication network anal ysis is explored in eight elementary schools. The first research question i s whether and in what way the communication behavior of teachers varies wit hin as well as between schools. The second research question is how teacher s' communication network participation is related to their perception of di fferent types of tasks. Our findings support the idea that teacher isolatio n at least partly results from the behavior of individual teachers. Results regarding the relationship between communication network participation and task perception yield insights that can be helpful in developing and suppo rting collegial relationships in schools.