Social capital building in the non-university education system: a community development analysis in Catalonian schools

Abstract

The present research intends to study the community phenomena in the context of the non-university, Catalonian education system. Therefore, once the results of certain previous approximations have been revised, we present an analysis model based on the social capital theory. Together with the fundamental distinction between bonding and bridging social capital, and with the relevance of the varied circumstances of everyday life in schools (the classroom and the school contexts, and their respective connections to the local community), we present results from a representative sample of primary and secondary education centers from Catalonia (Spain). To conclude, we discuss the necessity to consider the community building in the schools not as an instrument, but as an end itself.