Education is generally supposed to help learners to develop new capacities and to be able to apply them in work and life - yet we still know very little about how to build useful capacities. This book investigates nine research projects, exploring why particular capacities are successful in some situations but not in others.

The currency of social capital serves as an important function given the capacity to generate external access (getting to) and internal accountability (getting through) for individuals and institutions alike. Pierre Bourdieu (1986) defines social capital as “the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition or in other words, to membership in a group” (p. 251). Social capital contains embedded resources as a tool for manifesting opportunities and options among individuals and groups. Inevitably, the aforementioned opportunities and options become reflective of the depth and breadth of access and accountability experienced by the individual and institution. As educational stakeholders, we must consistently challenge ourselves with the question, “How do K-12 schools and colleges and universities accomplish shared, egalitarian goals of achieving access and accountability?” Such goals become fundamental toward ensuring students matriculating through K-12 and higher education, irrespective of background, are provided the caliber of education and schooling experience to prepare them for economic mobility and social stability. To that end, the volume, Contemporary Perspectives on Social Capital in Educational Contexts (2019), as part of the book series, Contemporary Perspectives on Capital in Educational Contexts, offers a unique opportunity to explore social capital as a currency conduit for creating external access and internal accountability for K-12 and higher education. The commonalities of social capital emerging within the 12 chapters of the volume include the following: 1) Social Capital as Human Connectedness; 2) Social Capital as Strategic Advocacy; 3) Social Capital as Intentional Engagement; and 4) Social Capital as Culturally-Responsive Leadership. Thus, it becomes important for institutions of education (i.e. secondary, postsecondary, continuing) and individuals to assume efforts with intentionality and deliberateness to promote access and accountability.

For the education system to remain responsive to the needs and demands of its multiple stakeholders it must embrace the innovation and research produced by contemporary technology. This book traverses a wide range of conceptual, disciplinary, methodological, national and sectoral boundaries to explore the challenge presented.

Collective Capacity Building: Shaping Education and Communication in Knowledge Society explores different forms of expression of capacity building, in educational, societal and cultural contexts. In particular, collective capacity building in higher education is analysed and illustrated in a number of educational offers for professionals.

Through ten research projects, this book explores the topic of educational learning and development in order to examine issues that are impacting, either positively or negatively, on current research in this area. The authors explore the capacity building potential of the projects and what factors impacted on or assisted their development.

Humanity's long history of intermittent conflicts and contemporary violence undermines Christian's (and their Jewish and Muslim fellow believers) religious confidence in and moral commitment to world peace. The principal issue is the ambiguity of God's presence and action in the world as we experience it. In A Contemporary Theology for Ecumenical Peace, this problem is addressed by relating biblical theology to contemporary philosophical and theological perspectives to motivate and sustain the practice of love and justice in the context of civil religion.