Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Early Childhood Education Journal https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-020-01096-8 Triangulating Social Networks and Experiences of Early Childhood Educators in Emergent Professional Cultures Sascha C. Mowrey 1 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020 Abstract Professional culture is a key element for successful implementation and change in schools. The purpose of this paper is to triangulate collaboration networks and experiences of educators to describe the emergent professional cultures in three newly-opened pre-kindergarten schools. This paper uses an exploratory mixed-methods case study approach. The professional cultures of three pre-kindergarten schools were explored using descriptive social network analysis of 75 educators’ collabora- tion within their schools and semi-structured interviews of 20 selected participants. Findings indicate distinct cultures at each of the three schools. Variations in network cohesion, in the alignment between formal and informal networks, and personnel stability combined into diferent types of professional culture. Interview statements and examples provide evidence and point to the importance of staf turnover in the development of professional culture among early childhood educators. The key limitation is that this study explores networks at the end of their second year of operation. Given that networks evolve as personnel and structures shift, the fndings represent only a moment in time. This study supports the local nature of teaching and suggests that districts and leaders should consider the professional culture, and the specifc role of the staf turnover, in that work. This study provides the rare opportunity to explore professional culture within brand-new school sites. It extends the existing literature by comparing three early childhood sites with diferent daily experiences of the same focused work. Keywords Collaboration · Networks · Professional community · Teachers Introduction In early childhood programs, and in the education feld as a whole, leaders need to understand the professional culture in a school to consider what mechanisms in the local school setting might afect interactions and practices (Daly 2010). A broad defnition of professional culture incorporates shared values, beliefs, and assumptions; shared norms and prac- tices; and social relationships and interactions which are naturally developed through repeated exchanges and work, and also evolve (Hargreaves 1994; Schein 2010). In the long term, it is professional culture that serves as a stabilizing force among group members, even as the individuals in the community change. The recent attention to early childhood development and the expansion of public pre-kindergarten programs has led to an increase in the number of early childhood centers and schools in the United States (Friedman-Krauss et al. 2020). As these schools open, they often pull together educators from around their communities. These newly opened schools ofer the opportunity to explore the emergent professional culture in settings where teachers and other staff have worked together for a limited time. The objective of this study was to explore the professional culture in three new pre-kindergarten only schools, with a focus on the formal structures of professional culture, informal networks, and their alignment. The goal of this work is to develop a starting place for the study of emergent professional culture among early child- hood educators, and its role in informing what leaders might look for and pay attention to in their schools. * Sascha C. Mowrey smowrey@missouristate.edu 1 Childhood Education and Family Studies Department, Missouri State University, Springfeld, MO, USA