Major Issues Confronted by Rural School Principals in China, Canada, and Germany: A Review of the Literature

• In Event: Comparative Studies in Education (II)

Proposal

Abstract
The Rationale for the Study
The rural-urban gap is an increasing issue that many countries worldwide have faced. In this literature review, I present significant issues rural school principals confront in China, Canada, and Germany. Research highlights that rural school principals in the three countries are experiencing challenges. Significant challenges include a lack of professional development and training, gender minority of rural principals, student diversity, changing demographics, issues surrounding school accountability and change, rural poverty and rural school closure. Research also highlights that rural school principals employed specific strategies in meeting the challenges, such as instructional leadership, servant leadership, collaborative leadership, and situational structuring leadership. Studies also show that leadership for social justice is important for dealing with equity issues. This information benefits researchers, policymakers, educational leaders, principals, vice-principals, teachers, parents, and community members interested in school leadership within rural communities.
Purpose and Research Question
This literature review outlines rural school principals’ issues in China, Canada, and Germany. The research question is: What are the challenges of the work of rural school principals in China, Canada, and Germany?
Significance of the Study
There is literature regarding rural education, but little exists with a focus on rural school principalship, specifically in China, Canada, Germany, and the comparison between the three countries. I hope this comparative literature review of rural school principals’ challenges will call the attention of people interested in supporting and promoting successful leadership practices within rural communities.
What is meant by ‘rural’?
The term rural has multiple meanings since every country has a specific standard for defining its rural areas. Despite the lack of a standard definition of the term rural, my study recognized that China, Canada, and Germany share similar patterns of ruralness. For example, rural schools are relatively small, geographically isolated, and disadvantaged in economic and school conditions compared to urban and suburban schools (e.g., Birkenfeld, 2013; Canadian Council on Learning, 2006; Roberts & Hannum, 2018), making rural principals’ work a challenging task.
Theoretical Framework: A Critical Perspective
This paper adopts a critical approach, assuming that “certain groups are privileged over others” and certain groups are disadvantaged or marginalized (Kincheloe & McLaren, 2011, p.300). It is an approach to critically examining social situations to improve them (Bullock & Trombley, 1999). It is also a discovery of “invisible” or “hidden” phenomena of all sorts in the field of education (Anderson, 1990, p.40).
A critical perspective is important for understanding rural school principalship because rural principals in the three countries are disadvantaged compared to their urban and suburban counterparts. It is also important because of the misconception of rural areas as being wealthy and withering (Tompkins, 2008), the ‘othering’ of rural areas, which leads to rural education being overlooked in educational literature and policy (Peters, 2005), and the lack of critical work in the field of rural school leadership studies.
Methodology
The evidence of this study is primarily drawn from secondary sources, with some insights coming from my own research experience on rural principalship in Ontario, Canada. A limitation of this study is that it is difficult to be comprehensive, relying on current studies from Chinese, Canadian, and German rural settings.
Rural School Principals’ Challenges and Strategies
The existing literature highlights some challenges facing rural school principals in China, Canada, and Germany. Many researchers concur that rural poverty is a significant issue confronting rural school principals. Poverty-linked issues include limited finances and inadequate resources (Knight & Quheng, 2010; Rundel & Salemink, 2021; Smith-Carrier, 2019), as well as the acquisition of teachers (e.g., Li, 2009; Kitchenham & Chateauneuf, 2010). Some researchers noted a need for more professional development and training among rural principals and teachers (e.g., Feng, 2003; Walker et al., 2012; Yan & Ehrich, 2009), which makes promoting equity challenging in rural schools, specifically regarding student diversity issues (Pattison-Meek, 2012; Tuters, 2015). In addition, several studies show a trend of outmigration in rural areas of China, Canada, and Germany, resulting in rural school closures and consolidation (e.g., McWilliams, 2008; Rundel & Salemink, 2021). A gender minority of female principals was found in China and Canada (Su et al., 2019; Reynolds et al., 2008). Rural research in Canada indicated that rural principals face additional challenges of multiple work demands, changing demographics, school accountability and change, and school-community relations (e.g., Hellsten et al., 2013; Preston et al., 2013). A unique pattern in Germany is the traditional bureaucratic system, under which rural principals have little authority over their teachers (Jornitz & Wilmers, 2021).
In response to these challenges, Chinese rural principals employ various strategies, most typically instructional and servant leadership (Walker et al., 2012). Similarly, rural principals in Canada also consider servant leadership as an important leadership practice. While facing resource constraints, some also use collaborative leadership strategies. Qualitative research on rural school principalship in Ontario, Canada, found that rural principals paid specific attention to social justice leadership practices, 1) communicating, 2) critical learning, 3) community, and 4) advocating. These patterns are evident in Ryan's (2016) research on inclusive-minded principals in Ontario. Principalship in Germany, in contrast, is considered situationally structured (Brauckmann & Pashiardis, 2011).
Implications and Recommendations
This literature review highlights that leading a rural school is unlike leading an urban or suburban school. The existing literature suggested that the government and the Ministry of Education foster and implement place-based policies by applying a rural lens rather than through a predominant urban outlook. Further research is required to understand the context-specific issues facing rural school principals more adequately. For example, how does rural school leadership compare to urban and suburban school leadership? What challenges do novice principals in these rural settings confront? What are the challenges facing female rural principals? These are a few of the many research questions waiting to be addressed through future research.

Author

• Minzi Zhang, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto