Australian Journal of Adult Learning - Volume 47 - Number 2 - Teaching for Social Capital Outcomes: The Case of Adult Literacy and Numeracy Courses

Oct 15, 2026

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There is strong evidence that participation in education and training can generate social capital outcomes, and that these outcomes support other forms of human capital and improve learners’ and communities’ social-economic wellbeing. However, research has offered limited detail on the pedagogy and related conditions that produce such outcomes in adult literacy and numeracy programs. This paper reports a study investigating what teachers do to foster social capital outcomes through adult literacy and numeracy course delivery.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Social capital and learning

Teaching and pedagogical conditions

The study

Operationalising social capital

Australian Journal of Adult Learning Volume 47, Number 2, July 2007 Teaching for social capital outcomes: The case of adult literacy and numeracy courses Jo Balatti James Cook University Stephen Black Northern Sydney Institute Ian Falk Charles Darwin University There is strong evidence that participation in education and training can produce social capital outcomes. There is also strong evidence that such outcomes are useful outcomes; they can enhance the development of other outcomes often called human capital and they can contribute to the social-economic wellbeing of the learners and the communities in which they live. Yet, little research has been done on the pedagogy and other conditions that produce social capital outcomes in education and training. This paper reports on a research project that investigated what teachers do to produce social capital outcomes in adult literacy and numeracy courses. 246 Jo Balatti, Stephen Black & Ian Falk Introduction There is a growing body of research which indicates that learning outcomes are a function of the social capital students bring to the program or course and that, furthermore, learning can produce additional social capital outcomes for students (for example, Coleman 1988, Field 2005, Schuller, Preston, Hammond, Brassett-Grundy & Bynner 2004) . Social capital refers to the norms, networks and trust which Putnam (1995) identifies as the ‘features of social life ... that enable participants to act together more effectively to pursue shared objectives’. Portes (1998) observes that,‘[w]hereas economic capital is in people’s bank accounts and human capital is inside their heads, social capital inheres in the structure of their relationships’. Because social capital is comparatively intangible, its definition, let alone ways in which it can be measured, remains debatable. For pragmatic reasons, the study reported in this paper adopted the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) definition which describes social capital as the ‘networks, together with shared norms, values and understandings which facilitate cooperation within or amongst groups’(2004: 5) . Despite the ongoing difficulties of definition and measurement, the relationship between social capital and learning has captured the interest of both research and government. Much of the research relating education and social capital has been conducted in the schooling sector (e.g. Dika & Singh 2002). There is also an increasing body of literature that is exploring the relationship between social capital and adult learning (e.g. Allison, Gorringe & Lacey 2006, Balatti & Falk 2002, Falk 2006, Falk, Golding & Balatti 2000, Field & Spence 2000, Kearns 2004, Kilpatrick 2002) . In the area of adult literacy, such research is limited but growing (Balatti, Black & Falk 2006, Falk 2001a, Tett, Hall. MacLachlan, Thorpe, Edwards & Garside 2006) . Teaching for social capital outcomes: the case of adult literacy and numeracy courses 247 Because there is sufficient evidence to suggest that adult education programs, including adult literacy and numeracy courses, can produce social capital outcomes, it is worthwhile investigating the pedagogical practices that generate them. The assumption being made here, of course, is that pedagogy does have an impact on the social capital outcomes that students experience. This is not to imply that pedagogy is the only factor that impacts on the production of social capital outcomes. Curriculum, context, funding, and theresources and needs that the students themselves bring to the course, are just some of the factors that are likely to impact on the social capital outcomes experienced. Nevertheless, pedagogy is certainly an important factor to investigate if only for the reason that to some extent it is within the realm of the teacher’s influence to modify or develop. This paper is about identifying some of the ways in which teachers draw on the social capital that participants bring to s

FAQs

What does the paper argue about education and training producing social capital outcomes?

It argues that participation in education and training can produce social capital outcomes, and that these outcomes can enhance human capital development and contribute to learners’ and communities’ social-economic wellbeing.

Why does the paper focus on pedagogy in adult literacy and numeracy courses?

It claims that, while many factors can influence social capital outcomes, pedagogy is important because it is partly within teachers’ influence to modify or develop.

How is social capital operationalised in the study?

The study operationalises social capital as 12 indicators based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics social capital framework, examining changes in participants’ interaction with networks such as trust levels and support-seeking or support-giving patterns.

Oct 15, 2026

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