Abstract:

School-based social capital includes a social network of teachers, counselors, and other staff who have the competence and desire to share institutional resources and opportunities. According to Stanton-Salazar (1997) and Stanton-Salazar and Dornbusch (1995), potential school-based social capital is actualized:
(a) when the school network includes students’ supportive ties with school staff members, and
(b) when staff members’ shared resources and expectations lead to students’ advancement in the educational system.

School-based social capital can be actualized through mentoring and individualized student–staff relationships within schools (Noeth & Wimberly, 2002; O’Connor, 2000). These relationships have proved pivotal in helping students from disadvantaged homes, communities, and even schools get the necessary resources and social supports to make the transition to college (Farmer-Hinton, 2008). Social capital is relational. Resourceful and reciprocal teacher–student relationships can translate into a whole spectrum of institutional support. Social capital then becomes a deliberate choice of individuals, such as teachers, to take actions on behalf of themselves or their community.

This study explores how individual school staff members have served as advocates for students’ aspirations in the context of collaboration in the Erasmus+ project titled “Shaping the network competences of young girls from minor towns and restructured areas as future business leaders operating in a 4.0 economy” [ID KA220-YOU-CF9C51BF]. A total of 15 teachers/educators from Poland, Romania, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic participated in the training. The international Teachers’ Training held in Cluj-Napoca from 20 to 24 October 2025 represented a key activity under Work Package 2 of the Girls4Economy project – Train-the-trainers meeting.

The main aims of the training were to:
1) introduce the project framework, methodology, and the Teachers’ Toolkit;
2) strengthen teachers’ digital and network competences in line with DigComp and DigCompEdu frameworks;
3) prepare educators for the pilot implementation phase in their home countries;
4) provide hands-on experience through simulations, group work, and reflective activities. The study discusses teachers' feedback on satisfaction, relevance, implementation readiness, and usefulness of the training.

The evaluation presented here is based on an online questionnaire including Likert-scale items and open questions.

The data revealed that the Teachers’ Training in Cluj-Napoca provided a strong foundation for the pilot implementation phase. Participants left the training motivated, informed, and equipped to promote digital and network competencies among their students.

Capturing how the school engages and implements an Erasmus+ programme and utilises its social capital may lead to more effective programmes within schools. It is important that schools are involved in Erasmus programmes because schools can activate their social capital through the networks. The school benefits by achieving higher social capital and more connectedness if they do implement the programme in this fashion. By being involved in Erasmus+ programmes, schools and teachers can activate their social capital through the networks that they expand. Erasmus+ experience leads to significant challenges as well as reasons for pride. It creates potential to support youth as leaders in social capital building and addressing community resilience.

Keywords:

Social capital, Erasmus+ Cooperation partnerships in youth, education, case-study, project-based learning, students, Lithuania.