Call for papers – Examining the Dynamics of the School Environments in Africa and Asia Using Social Media Network Analysis

Overview:

The upcoming special issue explores the intricate dynamics of school environments in Asia and Africa using the Social Media Network Analysis approach. This special issue seeks to explore how this social media data can be leveraged to gain insights into the dynamics of the school environment, which refer to the various interactions and processes within a school's physical and social settings. These dynamics are influenced by the school's institutional and structural features, social relations, teaching and learning, physical and social-emotional safety, and educational policies. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for creating a conducive learning environment and ensuring the overall success of schooling systems in Asia and Africa. Exploring the dynamics of school environments in Africa and Asia through social media network analysis is a groundbreaking endeavour for numerous reasons. Social media provides real-time data, allowing researchers to analyse current trends and immediate impacts, a capability often unattainable with other data sources. Delving into the dynamics of the school environment, utilising social media data will yield diverse and comprehensive information. Identifying key patterns and understanding interaction dynamics in social media is achievable through this research. Social media network analysis in this research can unveil the discourse's most influential users or nodes. These could be individuals and organisations that have gained noteworthy attention in discussions regarding school dynamism on social media. Additionally, social media network analysis can illuminate how users converse about school dynamism on social media. This unique capability can uncover patterns and relationships concerning school dynamics in Asia and Africa that may elude traditional research methodologies, sparking new avenues of exploration and understanding. The upcoming special issue explores the intricate dynamics of school environments in Asia and Africa using the Social Media Network Analysis approach. This novel research will delve into the intricate flow of information in social media platforms and delve into the following themes:

1. Institutional and Structural Features: This encompasses the physical dimensions of the school, including its size, spatial layout, structural organisation, and availability of critical resources.
2. Social Relations: This theme encapsulates the intricate web of relationships between teachers and students and among students, significantly shaping the dynamics within the educational institution.
3. Teaching and Learning: The quality of instruction and the varied pedagogical methods employed are pivotal forces in sculpting the school environment.
4. Physical and Social-Emotional Safety: This theme delves into the criticality of ensuring a safe and nurturing environment, encompassing both physical safety and emotional well-being, in influencing the dynamics of the educational setting.
5. Shared Beliefs, Values, and Attitudes: Often termed as the school culture or climate, the shared beliefs, values, and attitudes within the school ecosystem wield significant influence over the dynamics of the educational environment.
6. External Environment: This theme encompasses the broader socio-cultural and political context in which the educational institution operates, shedding light on its profound impact on school dynamics.

Timeline:

Call Open: 17th September 2024
Submission open: 1st November 2024
Submission close: 15th April 2025

Submission information:

• Papers should be up to 8,000 words, including the structured abstract and references. Please refer to this page for detailed submission guidelines under ‘Manuscript Requirements’.
• Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available here.
• Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e., in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to.”
• Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Guest Editor:

Mohd Ali Samsudin, PhD., Associate Professor (Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia)

Associate Professor Dr Mohd Ali Samsudin has extensively researched the intersection between educational research in Asia-Africa regions and advanced data analysis techniques, including Rasch Model Analysis, Structural Equation Modelling, Hierarchical Linear Modelling, Social Network Analysis, and Epistemic Network Analysis. He is actively involved with the African-Asia University Dialogue for Educational Development (A-A Dialogue), established to promote joint international research among African and Asian universities to contribute to educational development in developing countries. A dialogue was organised by the Center for Study of International Cooperation in Education (CICE), Hiroshima University. Through A-A Dialogue, he led a research project on the comparative study of professional identity between teachers from Asian and African regions, a project with the potential to unveil fascinating insights. The project continued with another research project that studied the Impact of COVID-19 on Schools in Asian and African regions using the Social Network Approach. This study provides a unique perspective on the pandemic's effects on education. He is currently leading the same team to research Asian and African Teacher's Resilience in the Teaching Profession during post-COVID-19, a topic that is sure to yield intriguing findings.

Tan Wee Ling, PhD., (Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMO), Regional Centre for Education in Science and Mathematics (RECSAM))

Dr. Tan Wee Ling is leading the Third Country Training Programme under the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO), which collaborates with the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme. She led the program in improving the quality of curriculum development for educators from the Republic of Ghana, Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania. She also promotes professional development among science educators via Regular Courses from SEAMEO regions. She is currently involved in the research of the Southeast Asian Teacher Education Programme to enrich and contribute to advanced STEM education in the area.

Tiew Chia Chun, Ph.D., (Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia)

Dr. Tiew Chia Chun is actively involved in research that applies advanced data analyses, namely the PLS-SEM and Rasch models. He has conducted PLS-SEM and Rasch analyses in self-determined learning and teacher resiliency studies. He was also involved in a research project that studied the Impact of COVID-19 on Schools in Asian and African regions using the Social Network Approach. He also researched Twitter and YouTube and conducted many social network analyses in African and Asian regions.  

Examples and relevant references:

Ahmed W, Vidal-Alaball J, Downing J, López Seguí F. COVID-19 and the 5G Conspiracy Theory: Social Network Analysis of Twitter Data. J Med Internet Res. 2020 May 6;22(5):e19458. PMID: 32352383; PMCID: PMC7205032. https://doi.org/10.2196/19458

Hansen, D., Shneiderman, B., Smith, M. A., & Himelboim, I. (2019). Analyzing Social Media Networks With Nodexl: Insights From A Connected World (2nd Ed.). Morgan Kaufmann.

Moen, M., Pham, H.T.T., Mohd Ali Samsudin & Chun, T.C. (2024), "Measuring South African novice teacher resilience in coping with teaching challenges: a Rasch model framework", Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIT-11-2023-0166

Mohd Ali Samsudin,  Moen, M. C., Hai, P. T. T., Hagos Hailu, B., Hidayat, A., Ishida, Y., Kusakabe, T., Ozawa, H., Ishak, N. A., Malik, S. A., Ismail, B. M., Owoyemi, T. E., Anangisye, W. A., Mgonda, N. L., Asiimwe, J. A., & Kyasanku, C. (2021). Indicators for the Measurement of Teachers’ Professional Identity across Asia and Africa: A Delphi Study. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 56(8), 1834-1847. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909621992785

Pham, H.T.T., Mohd Ali Samsudin, Huy, N. H. D., Tri, N.Q., and An, N. N. (2023). "Exploring the Influences of Teacher Professional Identity on Teachers’ Emotion Among Vietnamese Secondary School Teachers" Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, 25 (2), 143-164. https://doi.org/10.2478/jtes-2023-0021