Interest Groups

 

Politically speaking, two major and interconnected issues emerge when considering small and rural schools in Europe: the efficiency problem, and the inequality of the provision of education.

In November 2019, the Steering Committee of European Schoolnet created the Small and Rural Schools Interest Group to explore issues of mutual concern related to small schools at a European level, as quite a lot of other countries are concerned with similar problems. The objectives of this Interest Group are to:

  • 1. Collect and share different research findings across European countries.
  • 2. Work at the European level on the collection and sharing practices on the use of ICT, to overcome isolation.
  • 3. Collect and share experiences on learning practices in multi-age classes.
  • 4. Collect and share experiences on models of school organisation and links with local communities.
  • 5. Consider the opportunity to offer an open community of practices for all practitioners working in small and rural schools, and the chance to create a European network of small rural schools.
  • 6. Offer a capacity-building programme for small and rural schools in Europe.

The Small and Rural Schools Interest Group is composed by 13 countries (Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Poland, Serbia, Sweden, Slovakia, Spain and Turkey). It is supported by European Schoolnet and INDIRE — the National Institute for Documentation, Innovation and Educational Research, which is the Italian Ministry of Education's oldest research organisation. 

Latest activities

In 2023, the Small and Rural Interest Group presented its first publication titled "Rural schools under focus". This publication features 11 monographies, covering 11 countries (Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Poland, Serbia, Sweden, Spain) in 11 languages, the executive summary and a comparative analysis of the findings of these monographies.

Here you can find the report, the executive summary, executive summary in French and the monagraphies.

In 2024, this interest group worked to prepare a MOOC for small rural schools, which is scheduled to lauch in the fall of 2025 as part of the European Schoolnet Academy. To prepare the ground, the group established an advisory board, consisting of: European Schoolnet, INDIRE (Italy), the National Agency for International Education and Research (the Czech Republic), INTEF(Spain) and the National Agency for Education (Sweden).
 
The core aim of the 'Smart schooling and networking' MOOC is to showcase models and strategies that foster school innovation, enabling small, isolated and rural schools to capitalise on their unique geographical and cultural strengths. European Schoolnet and INDIRE want to demonstrate how these schools can evolve into 'smart' learning environments, enhancing educational quality and ensuring equitable opportunities for students in disadvantaged areas through innovative schooling schemes and networking strategies. Throughout the four modules, participants will delve into both the theoretical and practical facets of innovative schooling, including multi-age classroom management and the application of ICT for distance and remote education. Expert and peer advice, alongside guidelines and suggestions, will be provided to help participants develop non-standard schooling methods that effectively support experiential learning.
 
More information about the Small and rural schools MOOC will be shared soon.

 

 

The Data Interest Group was created to better understand and discuss the benefits and challenges of digitally processed data on student learning. The topic has become particularly important for education since the emergency move online of teaching and learning during the pandemic. In 2023, the members of the Interest Group have addressed in particular the question of Learning Analytics, in a discussion building on a presentation by Barbara Wasson, University of Bergen about Four Dilemmas from the perspective of Norway. The dilemmas discussed were the following: the need for information versus the need for data protection; learning as an Individualised process versus social process; centralisation versus autonomy; and competence needs versus competence reality.

In 2024 the Data interest group had one meeting focusing on data literacy, which was supported by a presentation of the Erasmus+ DALI Project, Data literacy for citizenship. The group also discussed ‘Educational data flow – a case study of Switzerland'. The discussion was supported by an overview of the search for a data governance model for the Swiss education sector and a presentation from the Educa project Digital education data pathways. Participants exchanged news and recent developments from their countries regarding the governance, monitoring and use of data in education.