"The Town Has Come to the Country": Urbanization and Rural Schooling in Aotearoa New Zealand

• In Event: Making Sense of Global Ruralities for Educational Research and Practice

Abstract

This research explores the impact of urbanization on rural primary schools from a school governance perspective. This paper outlines challenges experienced by rural schools to understand how external forces like urbanization are influencing teaching and learning in rural settings. Three key themes emerged from principal interviews and school board focus groups. First, study findings demonstrate how urbanization is diversifying and growing school populations. Second, urbanization has placed new school infrastructure needs at the forefront of governance decisions. Finally, rural school identity and culture, and its influence on pedagogy and practice, is being re-negotiated. This line of findings contributes to the literature examining rural identity, the rural-urban divide, and rural sociology by drawing attention to how external forces influence education.

Authors

• Jennifer Tatebe, University of Auckland
  Presenting Author

• Wendy Choo, University of Auckland
  Presenting Author