No abstract

ResumenLa presente investigación tiene como objetivo el estudio de los fenómenos comunitarios en el contexto del sistema educativo no universitario de Cataluña. Para ello, tras revisar los resultados de algunas aproximaciones realizadas anteriormente, se presenta un modelo de análisis basado en la teoría del capital social. De acuerdo con la distinción fundamental entre el capital social vinculante y aquél que tiende puentes, así como con la consideración de los diferentes ámbitos de actividad cotidiana de las escuelas (el aula y la escuela como contextos, así como sus respectivas relaciones con la comunidad local), se presentan los resultados obtenidos a partir de una muestra representativa de centros de educación primaria y secundaria de Cataluña. Para concluir, se discute la necesidad de considerar al propio desarrollo comunitario en el contexto escolar, no como un instrumento, sino como un fin en sí mismo. Palabras clave: escuela, desarrollo comunitario, capital social, actividad cotidiana, participación, colaboración, calidad en la educación, eficacia escolar. Abstract. Social capital building in the non-university education system: a community development analysis in Catalonian schoolsThe 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.

Beginning with a discussion of the latest findings in the information and communication technologies (ICT) and educational improvement field, this article develops a comprehensive strategy to analyse online community building. Far from offering a utopian or dystopian vision, we study the contribution of ICT appropriation as a tool for collaboration, participation, and co-responsibility in the everyday functioning of classrooms and schools. To do so, we examine and discuss school policies, expectations, and the current rate of internet use among administrators, teachers, and students from a representative sample of 350 schools in Catalonia (Spain). Our results show a sparsely connected education system, in which the integration of ICT does not appear to trigger a substantial revolution in established schooling practices. Our concluding statements defend the importance of ICT in education as the ultimate means of interaction that may enable community building to improve the processes of managing, teaching, and being educated in the Network Society.

Citizen Observatories are the technological platforms where a diverse range of tools are developed, such as web portals, smartphone apps, electronic devices, that allow the development of citizen science projects, particularly those with the principal objective of large scale participation of the people, covering large geographical areas and long periods of time. These new observatories integrate the latest Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to connect the citizens digitally, improve their observational capabilities and provide information flows. The concept of Citizen Observatories offers great possibilities as an educational experience, precisely due to the opportunities offered by the participation of the people, with different levels and roles and therefore, it is assumed in terms of active collaboration of the citizens, in shared processes of knowledge creation. This is especially clear when we pay attention to the complexity of the challenges education must face today, within the framework of a society of knowledge like ours.

Using a digital inequality approach, this study analyses the introduction of the internet into teachers' daily activity in order to support and enhance community building in classrooms and schools. From a representative sample of 350 schools offering compulsory and postcompulsory education in Catalonia (Spain), 2,163 teachers were surveyed. After controlling for school and socio-demographic characteristics, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to assess the effects of face-to-face community building and digital literacy. The article analyses their main and interaction effects and discusses the implications of the observed patterns in relation to the introduction of the internet in order to extend and reinforce teachers' face-to-face teaching and professional practices. Going beyond the technological promise, our findings suggest the opportunity to encourage agreement between teachers, school administrators, and policy makers on the importance of a community approach that recognises the value of communication and collaboration as a successful means of addressing the educational challenges of schooling.