School projects with the community: Educational practices that promote connection between learning contexts and experiences

Abstract

This study explores educational practices that connect schools and community institutions to foster meaningful learning and students' engagement with social change. Recently there has been a growing interest in connecting schools with broader social and educational ecosystems. These connections can vary widely: from the linkage between educational context, to discursive reconstructions that connect lived experiences across settings. Using a multiple-case study design, we analysed two projects implemented in a public secondary school in Spain. The study aims to develop an analytical model for understanding such practices by focusing on three dimensions: a) the ways schools and community institutions collaborate in the design, implementation, and evaluation of educational projects; b) how the projects encourage students to reflect on the connections between their learning experiences within and beyond school; and c) how students perceive and engage with the social transformative potential of these initiatives. Key findings reveal that collaboration between schools and external institutions ranges from instrumental support to more integrated partnerships, highlighting the importance of co-design and sustained communication. While the activities foster connections between in-school and out-of-school learning, these links are often incidental, pointing to the need for more structured reflection processes. Students value these practices for increasing social awareness and fostering agency, though their potential to support futuremaking remains underdeveloped. The analytical model proposed provides a replicable framework for future research on connected educational ecosystems and offers valuable insights for educational agents in designing, implementing, and evaluating practices that foster connections between contexts and learning experiences.