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Social Capital: Exploring the theoretical foundations of community development education
Author(s) -
McClenaghan Pauline
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
british educational research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.171
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1469-3518
pISSN - 0141-1926
DOI - 10.1080/713651581
Subject(s) - social capital , sociology , social reproduction , educational attainment , community development , lifelong learning , individual capital , social engagement , social change , adult education , field (mathematics) , public relations , economic growth , social science , human capital , political science , pedagogy , economic capital , economics , mathematics , pure mathematics
Social capital as a concept has over the last decade or more been gaining significance in relation to a number of linked fields of analyses, including the identification of factors influencing educational attainment; explanations of differing levels of participation in formal and informal adult education; and conditions necessary to the construction and enhancement of institutions and practices conducive to lifelong learning. Within these contexts, social capital has come to be defined in a variety of ways, all of which have been linked to collective norms, values and relationships reflecting the involvement of human individuals in ‘a common life based on family and community’. In this respect, social capital enhancement appears to have direct links with community development education in that community development is generally defined as a social learning process which serves to empower individuals and to involve them as citizens in collective activities aimed at socio‐economic development. In this contribution, the author questions the validity and efficacy of social capital as an analytical concept in the field of adult education research by exploring a number of key issues related to the assumed links between community development and social capital enhancement. The analysis is based on research currently being conducted by the School of Social and Community Sciences of the University of Ulster.