La escuela rural y la política educativa española. Diferencias entre comunidades autónomas.

La educación en contextos rurales es un ámbito que requiere de un tratamiento acorde con su potencial social y productivo, mediante un diálogo permanente entre la identidad que caracteriza la ruralidad y la cultura actual, globalizante y procedente de diferentes medios; además implica el desarrollo de componentes culturales, científico-tecnológicos y productivos que posibiliten un aprendizaje que permita a las personas construir y reconstruir su entorno. En este sentido el trabajo realiza un análisis de la política educacional desarrollada en aquellas Comunidades Autónomas del Estado español en las que desde el año 2010 se está desarrollando el proyecto EDU2009-134607 sobre eficacia y calidad en la escuela rural. Este análisis surge de la necesidad de perfilar una identidad respecto al desarrollo de su territorio-tanto urbano como rural-, asumiendo la diversidad para conseguir una construcción cultural abierta y dialogante. Nuestro referente, la publicación de la Constitución de 1978 como punto de partida del Estado de las Autonomías y sus implicaciones en el diseño de las políticas educativas relacionadas con la educación en contextos rurales; y todo ello teniendo en cuenta que la ruralidad es un signo destacado de la estructura social, económica, territorial, administrativa y escolar de todo el Estado Español y que, por tanto, la escuela rural puede ser considerada como un subsistema educativo específico. De este modo pretendemos poner de manifiesto el sentido y significado del traspaso de competencias a algunas Comunidades Autónomas en materia de educación no universitaria, con especial énfasis en las diferencias desarrolladas en materia de política educativa referida a la escuela rural y en su relación con otras políticas de descentralización. Education in rural contexts requires an approach that recognises the social and productive potential of this type of schooling. It should involve a dialogue between an implicit rural identity and today's cultures, and it implies developing cultural, technologic-scientific and productive components that foster learning in a way that allows people to build and rebuild their surroundings. This paper analyses Spanish educational policy that affects rural education in those Autonomous Communities of the Spanish State in which since 2010 is being developed EDU2009-13460 project on efficiency and quality in the rural school. This analysis arises from the need to define an identity on the development of its territory, both urban and rural, providing diversity for an open dialogue and cultural construction. Our benchmark, the publication of the 1978 Constitution as the starting point of the State of Autonomies and its implications for the design of educational policies related to education in rural contexts, and considering all that rurality is a prominent sign social, economic, territorial, administrative and academic structure of the whole Spanish State and therefore the rural school can be considered as a specific educational subsystem. Thus we try to show the meaning and significance of devolution to some Autonomous Communities in non-university education, with special emphasis on developing differences on education policy relating to rural school and its relationship with other policies decentralization

'Little school, big heart' : embracing a new partnership for learning generous and ethical judgements

For educators and educational researcherswho value democracy and planetary sustainability, our times present pedagogical challenges. The (re)emergence of populism, alt-right violences and the pressing climate crisis, among other global matters, present a dilemma. How do we simultaneously foster the will to form generous, ethical, judgements and actions in students, while meeting their immediate needs and themyriad curricula and governance demands placed on schools, from the context of local circumstances? In response, Susan, a Federation University Gippsland Education (FUGuE) researcher; Gabbi a principal/teacher; Sophie a part-time teacher; and a year's 4-6 class, embarked on a yearlong project to seewhat might be possible from the context of a relatively isolated and tiny Victorian government primary school in the rural/coastal area of SouthGippsland, on the southern coast ofmainland Australia. Together, in a new partnership, we aimed to simultaneously expand students' oral language experiences while cultivating an 'encompassing ethic', an idea from Sue's doctoral thesis. This is the will and capability to visit standpoints of others-human, non-human, past, present and future-in order to encompass the widest possible range of perspectives before forming judgements, speaking and acting. We synthesised this 'going visiting' with the Speaking and Listening mode, and the Ethical Capabilities area of the Victorian Curriculum. The project emerged as a productively and inspirationally transformative one for many of us. So, this chapter reflects on and theorizes the factors that produced transformational possibilities from a small rural school, which enacted its motto of Little School, Big Heart. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019. All rights are reserved