European Schoolnet is presenting the first publication of its Special Interest Group on "Small and Rural Schools" 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 and a comparative analysis of the findings of these monographies.

The monographies explore the state of play in rural and small-town education and are based on surveys and interviews that European Schoolnet conducted among teachers and school leaders in rural, small, and remote areas.

The authors explore the topic from four angles and go on to compare these four dimensions:

Dimension 1: Leadership and management in small rural schools

This section focuses on the different approaches to leadership, decision-making and initiative-taking in the surveyed schools and on the different management structures in place.

Dimension 2: System Innovation – Alliances for innovation in the school system

This dimension is divided into three specific areas: Parents' role, Collaboration with the families, and Collaboration with the local community. The last part focuses on collaborations between schools and alliances that schools have with non-school parties.

Dimension 3: Pedagogical practices / Teaching practices

This dimension is divided into two parts: "Space and Time Organisation" and "Classroom Management" and examines the didactic aspects and classroom management in terms of space and time. Attention is paid to the strategies used for the management of multi-grade classes, wherever they exist, and the use of digital content and devices in the classroom.

Dimension 4: ICT as a tool for inclusivity

This dimension covers two specific aspects: "Remote teaching" and "Distance Learning" and studies and compares the ways in which technology is utilised in the teaching and learning process to bridge physical distances and enable self-study in emergency situations.

Following the comparative analysis, the publication identifies a set of challenges and opportunities and puts forward a number of recommendations for policymakers, school leaders and teachers.

The main challenges discovered were the lack of resources, inadequate infrastructure, and shortage of quality teachers. The difficult situation of small and rural schools, however, is also seen as offering opportunities for the introduction of technology-enabled learning methods, for building a more diversified and expanded teacher profile, and for promoting networks and interconnectedness.

The authors underline the importance of partnerships, networking and collaborative practices for supporting school improvement in remote schools, particularly by offering teachers an open community of practice that they can be a part of and propose that these communities share practices on the use of educational technologies to overcome isolation; share experiences of learning practices in multi-age classrooms; share experiences on models of school organisation and links with the local community.

You can find the report, the executive summary and the monagraphies on our publications pages.