To start, it's important to recognize that rural areas face unique challenges when it comes to education. These challenges include limited resources, geographic isolation, and a lack of qualified teachers. However, there are also many opportunities and strengths that can be leveraged to promote education in rural areas, such as strong community networks, a deep appreciation for local culture and history, and a willingness to innovate and adapt.

With these challenges and opportunities in mind, here are some strategies for developing the education system in rural areas:

1. Invest in technology: Technology can be a powerful tool for overcoming geographic isolation and connecting rural students with educational resources and experts beyond their local area. By investing in broadband infrastructure and providing students with access to technology, rural communities can expand educational opportunities and improve access to high-quality resources.

2. Foster community partnerships: Community partnerships can be a powerful way to pool resources, expertise, and support for education in rural areas. By bringing together schools, libraries, community centers, local businesses, and other organizations, rural communities can create a collaborative network that can work together to overcome common challenges and promote education.

3. Develop innovative approaches to teacher recruitment and retention: Rural areas often struggle to attract and retain qualified teachers, which can have a profound impact on educational outcomes. To address this challenge, rural communities can develop innovative approaches to teacher recruitment and retention, such as offering housing subsidies, providing professional development opportunities, and leveraging technology to connect teachers with resources and support.

4. Embrace local culture and history: Rural communities often have a rich cultural and historical heritage that can be leveraged to promote education. By incorporating local culture and history into the curriculum, rural schools can help students develop a deeper appreciation for their community and a stronger sense of identity.

5. Provide targeted support for at-risk students: Rural students who come from low-income families, have disabilities, or are English language learners may face particular challenges when it comes to education. To ensure that these students have access to the support they need, rural communities can provide targeted interventions and resources, such as tutoring, after-school programs, and specialized instruction.

By implementing these strategies and leveraging the strengths of rural communities, we can develop a more robust and effective education system in rural areas, and ensure that all students have access to the resources and opportunities they need to succeed.

Rural communities differ in that they have a much lower educational offer. There are municipalities in Latvia that do not have any adult education or professional education center. This forces these communities to mobilize internal resources. Educational offer can be provided by libraries, cultural centers, doctorates, business and career counselors, local artisans. The most active communities have leaders who try to bring all parties involved together. Success depends on how successfully and regularly information about the available educational offer is disseminated in the community.

Some of my Latvian coworkers have already mentioned how vital a role NGOs play in Latvia's more remote regions. Small organisations can create these learning communities for different groups of people because of programmes and projects funded by the European Union. Adult educators are the main target group we work with within our organisation. Bringing these experts together in a learning community is very important because it gives them a place to share their knowledge, skills, and good practices.  All that's really needed are some enthusiastic people, a fresh approach, and the ability to take advantage of opportunities.

Latvijas laukos esmu pamanījusi, ka ļoti lieliska iespēja ir uzņēmumiem, it īpaši ražošanas jomā, piemēram, ražojot produktus - veidot meistarklases un vadīt ekskursijas, kur iespēja jebkuram interesantam iegūt jaunas iemaņas. 

Pa vecumu grupām ir iespēja piedalīties dažādos pulciņos - kā dejošana, dziedāšana, bieži laukos ir augsti attīstīti rokdarbu pulciņi. Ja cilvēki laukos vēlās būt sociāli aktīvi, tad var atrast ko darīt.

Ļoti jauki ir tas, ka pat mazie ciemi cenšas atrast kādas nodarbes saviem iedzīvotājiem, un kultūras darbinieki un pasniedzēji savu darbu dara ar sirdssiltumu, tur veidojās lielas ģimenes un iedzīvotāji ļoti gaida katru tikšanos. Svarīgi ir dalīties savā pieredzē.

time and space opportunities for school (i.e. students, teachers, governors etc) and community voices (parents, and community members) to join in egalitarian dialogue with local politicians, health workers, engineers, lawyers bus drivers, and so on) to come together to discuss the factors associated with support for or closure/amalgamation of any school being considered for closure. The example is set in Finland where every municipality is expected to have such a discussion and thus pre-empt decisions being made by a small number ( even 1) of policy makers who lack experience of the case in question. For details see Gristy et al., 2020 Educational Research and schooling in Rural Europe, IAP Santarimäki & Törhönen, Ch. 12 'Inclusive and collaborative school network planning in Finland'. https://www.infoagepub.com/products/Educational-Research-and-Schooling-in-Rural-Europe  

What would you wish for learning communities in rural areas if EPALE could wave its magic wand and make one wish come true?

Fortunately, at least the Latvian society has opportunities to build its own rural communities, 

for example by participating in the Summer forum of Latvian rural and smart villages held this month.

The community has to be active and interested in development, as there are possibilities.

Thanks for an interesting discussion and comments. The word 'dialogue' was mentioned several times, and could be useful in response to some of the comments. A fundamental issue is the need to learn how to engage in dialogue so that challenging issues, social conflict and economic priorities can be approached by thinking together rather than perpetuating fossilised self-interested claims. As Ewa said, we need to learn to cooperate and sustain initiatives without external funding for example. To do so we need to engage in 'dialogic learning'. This can begin in elementary schools and heir local communities. There is an effective, tried and tested, model within the EC research frameworks, namely the INCLUD-ED project (2006-11) and the focus of many subsequent Erasmus+ projects across Europe.

A brief, accessible summary is here:

 https://www.step4seas.org/_files/ugd/8957d5_f5a2ea7546064fb2b994c49159ba4d62.pdf

IT shows six 'successful actions' which have been shown to succeed in promoting social cohesion and inclusion but also have remarkable positive effects on children's academic achievements, notably in contexts of social and economic deprivation. The key principle is that of egalitarian dialogue in which contributions to the discussion, are valued for their reasoning rather than the status of the speaker. Cath mentioned the work of Ramon Flecha on dialogic learning, and the Learning Communities referred to here are part of this. 1000s of schools have adopted these actions, not only in Europe. A critical feature is that the whole community, _inside and outside_ school are part of the dialogue. It exemplifies a reconceptualisation of traditional and didactic pedagogies in favour of a dialogic approach in which teachers actually listen to their students. These learning communities break down the walls that often come between schools and their communities.

Šī ir ļoti svarīga un komplicēta tēma, jo laukos ir nesalīdzināmi grūtāk izveidot pietiekami skaitlisku mācību grupu iedzīvotāju skaita un aktīvo iedzīvotāju pārklājuma dēļ. Protams, šobrīd ļoti pieejamu dazādu mācību sasniegšanu nodrošina digitālās iespējs. Bet attālinātās mācības nevar kvalitatīvi un emocionāli aizstāt klātienes mācības, kurās cilvēki tiekas ne tikai lai apgūtu piedāvāto tēmu, bet arī lai socializētos un notiktu savstarpējā zināšanu un pieredzes apmaiņa dzīvā sarunā. Veidotos kontakti un intereses piesaiste grupas dalībniekiem savstarpēji. Lauku teritorijās samazinās cilvēku skaits un sabiedrība kļūst vecāka, daudzi jaunie cilvēki savu darba un ikdienas dzīvi pārceļ uz pilsētām vai to tuvumu, kas sekmē cilvēku aizplūšanu. Tiem, kas paliek laukos, dzīve kļūst arvien dārgāka ne tikai sadzīviskā jomā, bet arī iespējās sevi papildināt intelektuāli. Daudzas mūžīzglītības iespējas paliek klātienē un arī finansiāli nesasniedzamas cilvēkiem ar ierobežotiem ienākumiem un teritorijās,kuras tieši vai netieši, bet valdošās politikas ietekmē kļūst par ekonomisko un pārvaldošo centru nomalēm. Mācības ārpus pilsētām un lielajiem novadu centriem pārsvarā paliek NVO sektora ziņā un cilvēkiem pieejamība dažādiem neformālās mācīšanās pasākumiem ir atkarīga no šo NVO prasmēm piesaistīt projektu naudas,kas sedz šo apmācību izdevumus. Arī NVO kapacitāte lauku teritorijās ir atkarīga no to dalībnieku entuziasma un prasmēm darboties, lai piesaistītu finsējumu dažādiem apmācību projektiem. Tāpēc dažu brīdi šķiet,ka lauku teritorijas un izglītības pieejamība tajās ir realizējama tikai uz to iedzīvotāju aktīvās kopienas entuziasmu. Valdībai unpašvaldībām būtu jādomā ne tikai par projektu konkursiem, kuros ir diezgan sarežģīti nostartēt lai piedāvātu iedzīvotājiem apmācību aktivitātes, bet arī par aktivitātēm,kuras tiek piedāvātas iedzīvotājiem pēc iesaistīšanās vēlmju principa- ir grupa kas grib apgūt kādu no piedāvātajām mācībām viņiem tiek dota tāda iespēja to izmantot maksimāli tuvu faktiskajai dzīves vietai...

When it comes to adult education in rural areas, the non-governmental sector plays an important role in Latvia - local NGOs are usually the driving force that involves adults in various non-formal and informal learning activities. NGOs, in cooperation with local authorities, usually also offer various educational programs.

I think various EU education projects (eg., Erasmus +, Nordplus, etc.) promote the development of educational communities in rural areas. Projects are also one of the ways in which adults are motivated to participate in educational activities in building learning communities.

For example, the NGO I represent has also contributed to the education of rural social workers within the Nordplus project so that they can provide quality services to their clients. We are currently preparing materials to promote emotional resilience as part of the Erasmus + project EMER. One of the target groups of the project is the rural population, for whom training will also be organized.

I think that in Latvia there are many examples of NGOs promoting education in rural areas.

Hi everyone,  there's a good example how community learning can be adapted in Czechia through so called Local Action Groups (MAS). This community-based project is supported from the Ministry of Regional Development,  via EU funds, and it is actually working well for the past 20 years.  The project works on municipality level and gets a variety of social, educational and private stakeholders and partners work together, creating local goal-oriented networks.  As a part of that, and based on local community needs, the MAPs are able to organize different types of educational and development activities,  contributing to enhance local economy,  social wellness or agriculture. The demand for the activities goes from bottom up, and the MAP management is actually trying to process the needs and come up with solutions. Also, it gives opportunities to local education providers,  schools etc. to participate. 

I'd like to share our EAEA publication on access to adult learning in rural areas with you: https://eaea.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/EAEA-Outreach-and-Access-ba…

In our publication, we argue that there is a lot of focus on learning in cities and that in the process the particular needs of learners, but also of learning providers in rural areas, have taken a back seat. Through examples from Poland, Ireland, Slovenia and Portugal, we look at barriers and challenges to access to learning, but also how participation can be increased and communities can be strengthened through adult learning.

Having had a look at the macro and meso levels, we would like to know from you, what do you consider to be the needs of rural learners?

What do we have to do differently when trying to address those needs, compared to urban learners? Do have to do anything different at all?

Let us know about your experience!

Bardzo się cieszę, że EPALE porusza tak ważny temat. Społeczności uczące się na obszarach wiejskich, stanowią dużą grupę całej ludności na wsi. Formy edukacji się zmieniają, ludzi chcących zdobywać wiedzę przybywa, ale przemiany w tym temacie są też nie uniknione. Od jakiegoś czasu obserwuję np. zamykanie szkół i zmniejszanie ilości klas w szkołach rolniczych, co przekłada się na coraz mniejszą liczbę osób z wykształceniem rolniczym - branżowym, to z kolei zmienia cały klimat wsi i powoduje duże zmiany restrukturyzacyjne, ograniczanie ilości małych gospodarstw, ale też szukanie przez rolników, nowych pomysłów na życie na wsi. Czy ten kierunek jest właściwy? Czas najlepiej to zweryfikuje.

As Zoltan mentioned,

rural learning communities can be seen as test labs for innovative approaches.

To the practitioners on EPALE: what have you been trying in a rural area in your praxis?

I hope you could follow the livestream discussion! Are there any more comments that you would like to make on the points and examples made?

Here are a few links to deepen the inputs from our guest speakers:

Cath Gristy, Linda Hargreaves and Silvie R. Kučerová (Eds) “Educational Research and Schooling in Rural Europe: An Engagement with Changing Patterns of Education, Space, and Place”: https://www.infoagepub.com/products/Educational-Research-and-Schooling-in-Rural-Europe

Project Learning Communities in Rural Europe: https://learning-communities.eu/

Project’s handbook: http://learning-communities.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/LCRE_Handbook_E.pdf

Ziarno (Seeds) http://ziarno.grzybow.pl/

"Folk High Schools facing Anthropocene”: http://ziarno.grzybow.pl/images/publikacje/projektowe/EUL_FHS_of_the_Anthropocene.pdf

"Folk High School of the 21st century, Tradition, Contemporaneity and Challenges for the Future”: http://ziarno.grzybow.pl/images/publikacje/projektowe/eng_strona.pdf

Hope you enjoyed the discussion!

Claudia (EPALE Moderator)

Dear Gina, Ewa, Cath, Zoltan, thanks for inspiring shared initiatives, project, opinions. Zoltan and Ewa mentioned the positive sides of learning in rural areas (relationship, tradition, values, ecosystem, respect to environment..) I would add that there are others benefits of education in rural areas. Rural schools are usually smaller and have lower pupil numbers than urban schools. At the same time, they are more likely to have pupils with lower socio-economic benefits and to face staff shortages and a lower proportion of qualified teachers. However, teaching in rural schools can also have a positive effect. Smaller rural schools can help to create more developed cooperation within the team of teachers and pupils and a sense of belonging to the school. Due to the fact that rural schools usually have a small number of pupils, they often combine different grades into one class and pupils can learn from each other.. Teacher education students must develop effective teaching skills in rural areas. It is also important to bring schools and teachers together in a community of practice and to use new technologies.

I have questions. According Your experience, what has the greatest effect of helping rural areas in their development? What is going well and what should be continued? Are there any specifics in adult areas regarding adult education? Thank You!