As summer holidays start, five small rural primary schools will be closing their doors for good in Northern Ireland, and thousands more will be closing around Europe. There hasn’t been much public recognition on how this will impact on their communities. We reviewed research on small rural schools in Europe in the 21st century in our new article, which is free to download. You can find the link at the end of this blog post. Here we summarise 3 interesting facts that we found out.
1. The number of small rural schools in Europe has shrunk drastically in the last four or five decades.
Small rural primary schools have closed or amalgamated in many European countries. For example, in northern Finland, three out of four small rural schools closed between 1990 and 2010. In Poland, between 1990 and 2012, the number of rural primary schools dropped by nearly 40%, resulting in the closure of nearly 6000 schools. Most of these schools appear to close because of financial reasons, as small schools are seen to be too expensive to run in contrast with larger schools. There is also a policy bias that considers rural schools as somehow deficient, and multi-age teaching in small schools as ‘inferior’ to age-homogenous teaching in larger schools. However, there is no evidence to demonstrate these prejudices. Indeed, we found that this image of rural schools is starting to be called into question, and recent studies show that rural schools are no worse than urban ones. When there are differences in the educational achievements of pupils in large urban and small rural schools, this is often due to socio-economic differences rather than differences in the quality of instruction.
2. Small rural primary schools are very diverse.
There is not an agreed definition, but small rural primary schools are usually defined by being in a rural area and the small number of pupils enrolled. This number varies between fewer than 50 to fewer than 140. Other characteristics that are mentioned are the small number of staff employed, having a teaching principal, their geographical isolation, and having mixed-grade classes. However, research has highlighted the enormous diversity of small rural schools in Europe. There are differences on educational policies and socio-economic situations in Europe, which make schools differ between countries. Within the same country, there is also a plurality of small rural schools. So, schools face different challenges depending on their geographical (and socio-economic) location, the number of pupils and teachers, their own local social histories, and whether they are under threat of closure.
3. Small rural primary schools not only face challenges, but they can also offer multiple opportunities to teachers, principals, pupils and the communities they serve.
Small rural schools have multiple strengths, according to a range of studies. First, they are often seen as being ‘at the heart of their communities’, being able to form a strong connection with their local community. Second, they can deliver a “place-based curriculum”, which highlights children’s relationship with nature and promotes local history and culture. Third, small schools have a strong potential to identify and address pupils’ individual needs. And finally, they have been used as a testing ground for innovation. For instance, in Austria, a study focused on two small rural schools that were both restructured as Montessori schools by their principals, who weren’t from the local area and were committed to this pedagogical approach.
In conclusion, it is important for policy-makers not to base their decisions in prejudices but on the evidence available about small schools. The decision of closing any of these schools down should consider not just its enrollment number but the particularities of that school, including its value for the local community.
If you want to find out more about small rural primary schools in Europe, please read our review of the literature here. We hope you enjoy it and let us know what you think in the comments.