Organisational Transactive Memory Systems Aamong Military Educators: A Network Approach Within and Beyond Teams

Description

Abstract:
Military educators are expected to continuously develop their teaching practices to prepare personnel for demanding and evolving operational contexts. Collaborative learning offers timely access to knowledge and facilitates professional development; however, military contexts characterised by geographical dispersion and turnover pose challenges for sustaining such learning.
This study examines learning networks among military educators through the lens of transactive memory systems (TMS), defined as shared understandings of “who knows what” and how expertise can be accessed within a collective. While prior research has predominantly examined TMS at the team level, less is known about how such systems operate at the organisational level and support learning across formal team boundaries. Adopting a networked perspective, the study investigates organisational TMS by identifying boundary spanners who connect different groups and by examining how communication practices shape collaboration and the sharing of training- and teaching-related knowledge.
Using survey-based social network analysis, we examine learning relationships among approximately 500 military educators across eight training centres in Belgium. The survey includes demographic items as well as dyadic and team-level measures based on validated instruments for transactive memory systems, vicarious learning, and internal team learning.
Analyses reveal variation in learning and communication structures across training centres, pointing to different organisational conditions for coordination and knowledge exchange. By extending transactive memory systems research to the organisational level and adopting a social network approach, this study provides empirical and methodological insights into how professional learning networks are structured and how knowledge evolves across formal team boundaries in organisations.

Période	16 sept. 2026
Titre de l'événement	Earli SIG 14 Learning and Professional Development 2026 Conference
Type d'événement	Une conférence
Emplacement	BelgiqueAfficher sur la carte
Degré de reconnaissance	International