Little Schools on the Prairie: Depictions of Social Capital in the Works of Laura Ingalls Wilder

In the late twentieth century, educational researchers and theorists began studying “social capital” with regard to its influence on educational attainment and success. School administrators, scholars, policymakers, and other stakeholders are presently searching for ways to create and cultivate social capital between families, schools, and communities. Looking to the past offers glimpses of social capital’s power, both positive and negative, in education. The examination of the common school era in the latter half of the nineteenth century merits greater scrutiny in this respect. In considering the effects of social capital within education in this period, the works of Laura Ingalls Wilder, including her Little House series and her unpublished Pioneer Girl, provide a rich source of study. Her experiences as both a student and teacher during this era provide insight into the positive and negative results of social capital in the educative process. Her works can guide us today in thinking about the spectrum of effects of social capital in education.