"It takes a village": The Importance of School Communities and Social Capital

Source: stephaniedaviesarai.com

A school’s ability to educate its students largely depends on the resources it can draw upon to do so. However, it would be a grave mistake to assume that such assets are limited to its budget. As important as finances are, a recent study uncovered an unexpected truth: a school’s "social capital" actually has much more influence on student achievement than its financial capital. ​

Well known to social scientists, but quite foreign to educational psychologists, the concept of “social capital” refers to the valuable resources embedded in human relationships, such as those that connect administrators, teachers, students, and families. More precisely, social capital is often split into three interrelated components: 

• Trust: the faith that all stakeholders in a child’s education have in each other’s good intentions and ability.
• Group norms: the shared values, expectations, and rules of conduct that structure a school’s community.
• Information flow: the exchange of knowledge between and about the various components of a complex human system.

In a nutshell, it is the mutual support of all of its members in the pursuit of a common objective that defines how “rich” an educative environment really is. 

    Again, these are not just lofty words. Surveying a representative sample of 78 elementary schools in the state of Michigan, Salloum, Goddard and Berebitsky (2018) found that the strength of the relations within a school community was three to five times more impactful, in terms of academic achievement than how wealthy it was. It’s the network, not the net worth. What is more, the two turned out to be unrelated, and a school’s social capital even more important (i.e., predictive of student learning and success) than other characteristics such as its socio-economic or ethnic makeup. 

    This obviously begs the question: how do you foster positive social relationships? It “takes a village”; but how do you build a village? You don’t. Such a human ecosystem cannot be artificially engineered: it can only be nurtured, cultivated. It has to arise naturally, organically, from constant and often informal contacts between its members. It’s as simple as that: people develop trust and respect when they get to spend time together and know each other. The role of a school leader, in that regard, is to create avenues for such human interactions:
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• Between students and educators: as social learning theory taught us, children learn first and foremost through the imitation of role models. More generally, an emotional connection with their teachers is critical if students are to invest themselves in their schoolwork. Likewise, and just as subconsciously, teachers dedicate themselves (even more) and do so more efficiently when they know their pupils at a personal and human level. 

 

• Between educators and parents: neither side of the educative equation can replace the other; but both need to reinforce each other and push, so to speak, in the same direction. Strong home-school partnerships do not only facilitate and relay learning: they help prevent issues, and create solid "holding environments" for students.

 

• Between educators: colleagues can work together, but friendship takes collaboration to the next level. Likewise, an authentic connection between teachers and administrators is crucial for a school to function optimally.

How this can be achieved obviously depends on the unique characteristics of each community. The truth remains, however, that one of the most effective ways to raise student achievement is to create meaningful, authentic, and pleasurable ways for all of its constituents to invest personal time in the life of the school.

Reference: Salloum, Goddard, and Berebitsky (2018), “Resources, Learning, and Policy: The Relative Effects of Social and Financial Capital on Student Learning in Schools”, Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk.