"This Is Worse Than Rural!" How Vietnamese High School Leaders, Teachers, and Students Define Rurality

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

Abstract

There has not been any universal, fixed concept of what rurality is. With the underlying assumption that rural is socially constructed, I conducted in-depth interviews with 7 high school leaders, 14 teachers, and 25 students in areas that are administratively categorized as “rural” in Hanoi, Vietnam, about their perceptions of rurality pertaining to their communities. Findings revealed that while students associated rural with a particular way of living, teachers and school leaders defined and categorized rural based on its levels of deficit in educational resources. Furthermore, some participants residing in remote rural areas identified their places as "worse than rural” due to extreme disadvantages facing their schools and communities.

Author

• Chi Nguyen, University of Arizona
  Presenting Author