Attractive Rural Schools in Czechia

Abstract

Current policies in education that support school choice can be a threat but also an opportunity for rural schools that are often at risk of closure or amalgamation/consolidation. Studies from Western Europe found two types of schools using the ‘capitals’ of the rural environment in different ways: ‘community’ and ‘magnet’ schools. Our mixed-methods study enriches the discussion on successful rural schools, considering both the school leadership strategies and the situation in the local quasi-market of schools in a post-socialist central European country, Czechia. In the first step, using data from all Czech rural elementary schools, we identified schools that were in demand by local and out-of-catchment-area students. We performed a detailed qualitative analysis of 13 selected case schools and their local quasi-markets in the second step. The usefulness of the analytical distinction between rural schools oriented towards the needs of the local community and those that use rural capital to meet the needs of liberal middle-class families is demonstrated. At the same time, there is a group of rural schools that try to balance the interests of both groups. The article presents vignettes of three such schools. The key feature of these 'catch-all' schools is negotiated innovation (i.e., sustainable change communicated with local actors and enabling the coexistence of tradition and innovation). Our study provides a deeper insight into the community/magnet typology, building on the perspective of a different part of Europe. It brings important insights for educational policy and the leadership of rural schools.