The Review of Rural Education that CoDeL delivered last month for the Glenkens and District Trust continues to attract significant positive interest, from policy-makers, officials and politicians, those directly involved in the education sector, and from academics. It is also supporting significant deliberations within the Glenkens and its communities in Dumfries and Galloway. For links to the Review, see the previous blogpost on 27 November.
A very interesting and inspiring read, and seems highly relevant to the Nordic context and the EDYNORA project.
Anna Berlina, EDYNORA
Here are examples of feedback from Prof Ken Muir (at the University of the West of Scotland and author of the Scottish Government’s report, “Putting Learners at the Centre: Towards a Future Vision for Scottish Education”) and Prof Roger Crofts (the first CEO of SNH).
Prof Ken Muir
“The report makes for a very interesting read. I’m particularly impressed with the way in which the report and its Appendix captures the advantages of such programmes and incorporates a range of case studies from so many different locations. These case studies are great examples of how local curricular initiatives can offer so much of value to learners in their own context.
In fact, the manner in which these rural schools are taking advantage of curricular flexibility for the benefit of young people and their local communities is most heartening. They are very good examples of what I recommend in my report for Scottish Government, “Putting Learners at the Centre”. It is my strong view that ‘ground up’ initiatives, such as those being seen in some rural areas, have much more chance of success, and are much more beneficial for young people and their communities, than the kind of ‘top down’ initiatives we have seen over many years.”
It is a most thorough look at rural education issues and solutions across many countries including Scotland. The place-based policies are very much a geographical perspective on policymaking.
The evidence of damage to rural communities caused by school closures in rural areas does suggest that this should be a greater priority than at present, especially for the Scottish Government.
Ian Selmes
“Perhaps the most significant sentence in the report is the following on page 13: ‘What is required is a significant rebalancing of schooling that does not just focus on learning to leave, but gives rural young people genuine choice and opportunity (a) to pursue their lives, and work, locally within their community, or (b) to migrate elsewhere, whether to urban or other rural places, or (c) to pursue a mix of these options.'”
Prof Roger Crofts