Network Activities

Small School Manifesto (Cath Gristy, co-convener) Online discussion on Learning Communities in Rural Areas organized by the European Commission’s EPALE (Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe). Cath Gristy was on a panel of three experts. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education: Laurence Lasselle (link-convenor) joined the editorial team last December and Joana Lucio and Cath Gristy (both co-convenors) have now joined the team of consulting editors. Joana Lucio (co-convenor) has been appointed as chair of the ethics committee for a Horizon Europe project that Rocío Garcia-Carrion (co-convenor) recently headed and saw approved for funding; similarly, Rocío and Aitor Gomez (also co-convener) have joined an application Joana recently headed for a project under the European Commission's CERV programme. Giusy Cannella (co-convenor) reported that INDIRE has two channels to disseminate their research: Some kind of notebook (https://piccolescuole.indire.it/en/notebooks/studies/) which they use to disseminate their research activities or to invite teacher to talk about their teaching practices. A second instrument which they frequently use is a research journal (https://laricerca.loescher.it/i-quaderni-della-ricerca/) where once a year they publish a collection of paper either from researchers' point of view and from teachers' experiences/good practices.

The Network has links to the Australian and International Journal of Rural Education (see below), the International Journal of Educational Psychology (Rocío Garcia-Carrion, co-convenor, is editor), the International Journal of Research & Method in Education (Jo Rose, co-convenor, is co-editor) and the Journal for the Study of Education and Development (Rocío Garcia-Carrion, co-convenor, is deputy editor).

The Network organized an online Panel Discussion on Building Community -School Relationships through Curriculum in Rural Areas: An International Conversation on 10 March 2022. It was organized by Melyssa Fuqua (University of Melbourne, Australia) and Laurence Lasselle (University of St Andrews, UK). The discussion can be found at:
universityofstandrews.padlet.org/laurencelasselle/BuildingCommunitySchoolRelationships.

Other publications: An EERA blog (Similar but different: Small rural schools in Northern Ireland by Dr Fargas-Malet and Prof Bagley) Special Issue of the Australian and International Journal of Rural Education – Summer 2022 (articles presented at ISFIRE2021 (International Symposium for Innovation in Rural Education) in August 2021 (Melyssa Fuqua and Morag Redford) Rose, Jo, Jay, Tim, Goodall, Janet, Mazzoli Smith, Laura & Todd, Liz (2022) Repositioning Out-of-School Learning: Methodological Challenges and Possibilities for Researching Learning Beyond School, Emerald Publishing Limited. ISBN: 9781787697409 Díez-Palomar, J., García-Carrión, R., Hargreaves, L., & Vieites, M. (2020). Transforming students’ attitudes towards learning through the use of successful educational actions. PloS one, 15(10), e0240292. Khalfaoui, A., García-Carrión, R., & Villardón-Gallego, L. (2020). Bridging the gap: engaging Roma and migrant families in early childhood education through trust-based relationships. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 28(5), 701-711. Lasselle, L. (2021). Depicting rural deprivation in a higher education context – A Scottish case study’. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 31(3), 29-42. doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v31i3.302 Lasselle, L., Schelfhout, S., Fonteyne, L., Kirby, G. & Duyck, W. (2021) An examination of gender imbalance in Scottish adolescents’ vocational interests. PLOS One (2021), 16, 9, doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257723 Lasselle, L. & Johnson, M. (2021). Levelling the playing field between rural schools and urban schools in a HE context – A Scottish case study. British Educational Research Journal (2021), 47(2), 450-68. (AJG 3) doi.org/10.1002/berj.3670

A selection of the contributions of the Network 14 Special Call (ECER 2023) will be gathered in a special issue of the Australian and International Journal of Rural Education in Summer 2024. We will continue to make links with the World Educational Research Association for which Rocío Garcia-Carrion serves as Secretary General. There will be more plans as the year progresses!