Dimensions of centralization and decentralization in the rural educational landscape of post-socialist Czechia

Abstract

Abstract The centralization process of the educational system has many dimensions. The aim of this paper is to discuss specifics of various dimensions of the centralization and decentralization in the rural educational landscape of post-socialist countries using the example of Czechia. Based on the concept of landscape structures, we recommend the categorization of educational landscape processes into three groups: 1) the centralization of educational function, 2) the centralization of curriculum development, and 3) the centralization of educational governance and organization. The research was based on the spatial analysis of main school characteristics and the research results were interpreted within the context of main principles of organization of the elementary education system as identified in educational sciences or as declared in policy and strategic documents. While school concentration and the closures of small schools in rural areas are still widely discussed issues in many countries, in Czechia this dimension of centralization was basically completed in the 1970s. Centralization, which affected primarily rural schools, stood for ideal power control over the organization of curriculum and over school governance in the period of state socialism. After 1989, reflecting the country's overall democratization, the previous method of educational organization was rejected and replaced with highly decentralized approaches to curriculum and the governance of schools. Not the state but municipality authorities became primarily responsible for operating schools. At the same time, schools entered an educational market competing for pupils, which was again disadvantageous for rural schools.