According to a study published by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat), 40.2% of the total population of the European Union lives in cities, 27.8% in rural areas and 32% in areas that are called intermediate zones or suburbs close to the cities. Among the most urban countries is Spain, where 48.5% of the population lives in cities. Specifically, this study is carried out in the region of Aragon, in the north of Spain. An area that represents 10% of the national territory with a population density of 27.4 inhabitants/km2, which is unevenly distributed. The Aragon region is a clear example of a depopulated or depopulating area, as 50% of the region's total population is in the capital city, Zaragoza. Regardless of this, the demography of Aragon is characterised by being an eminently rural territory, as 97.81% of the region's territory is rural, making it the third region in Spain with the most municipalities with less than 1,000 inhabitants. In this context, the rural school is presented as a reality and a necessity.

Rural School in many countries have historically been defined as fourth rate school (Vigo and Soriano, 2020) and as lees desirable than schools located in large urban cities (Fargas-Malet and Bagley, 2021), facing difficult situations as the closure of schools, strong concentration movements and the creation of clusters (Fargas-Maley y Bagley, 2021; Hargreaves et al., 2009; Rosenfeld y Sher, 2019; Solstad and Karlberg-Grandlund, 2020). Situation that today is still suffered in these rural contexts (Vigo y Soriano, 2020) because of the combination of different factors including the develop of market policies, the boost of a metro-centric point of view which provoke the rationalization of basic services, the difficulty of getting staff and the lack of monetary inversion in these areas (Bagley and Hillyard, 2019; Beach and Vigo Arrazola, 2021).

It is precisely in these areas where rural schools and small rural schools serve which have been defined in different ways. Traditionally rural school have been defined by their location in the territory or related to the number of pupils that attend to the school (Petterson and Nasstrom, 2017). Taking these aspects as criteria for defining rural schools has meant that in each country, and sometimes even in each region, the definitions of rural schools are very different (Fargas-Malet and Bagley, 2021). Specially in the case of Spain, where there is not a common definition between the regions and where there are few previous studies that investigate the meanings and senses of rural schools (Beach, et al, 2018; Fargas-Maley y Bagley, 2021; Orhm, 2012).

However, other characteristics that define rural schools have emerged from the review of research at both international and national level, moving away from that vision that uses demographic or geographical criteria to define them (Raggl, 2020).  Among the features that stand out are the location in the natural and rural environment, the relationship with the environment (Vigo and Soriano, 2020), multigrade-grouped (Aberg-Bengston, 2009), the creation of interpersonal relationships and social ties (Karlberg-Grandlund, 2019) and the inclusion of local culture in the school curriculum (Vigo and Soriano, 2020).

The disparity of definitions to refer to the same concept, the rural school, is the result of the different meanings and representations that are part of the social imaginary, which have a great influence on how they are defined (Beach and Vigo, 2021).

This paper therefore aims to contribute to knowledge about the construction of meanings and meanings of rural schooling from a contextual perspective that recognises the idiosyncrasies and particularities of the settings and contexts (Massey, 1994).

In this sense, the exploratory study presented here is the first phase of an in-depth ethnographic study that conforms a research project that focus to investigate the creative teaching practices carried out in rural schools using digital media. From this study we understand the need to investigate the meanings and senses of the rural school to draw and conceptualise the context in which the ethnographic study is framed (Peterson et al., 2017). The exploratory study presented is carried out in 4 steps (Fernández and Baptista, 2010). (1). Research question emerged. The emergence of the following research questions determined the need for an exploratory study: "How is a rural school defined in the research?"; “What are the meanings and senses attributed to the school by the educational protagonists?". These research questions delimit the research objectives. (2). Deep review of previous studies about rural schools. To have a complex vision about the rural school situation, we carried out a review of previous studies about rural schools. To this end, we searched different databases (Scopus, ResearchGate, International Journal of educational research and Journal of Ethnography and education). To carry out the search we used the keywords "rural school" and "small rural school" and considered some criteria for the selection of the studies (journal article, chapter, or book; published between 2010 and 2022 and focused on (small) rural schools). We are aware of language limitations, as the selected studies were written in English or Spanish. (3). Sample selection. Participants were selected through purposive sampling (Bogdan and Taylor, 1987) based on inclusión criterio defined through reviewing previous studies (Jeffrey and Troman, 2004). In this way, the inclusion criteria were established as being a rural school, considering the two types that coexist: cluster schools and small rural schools. In addition to the criteria used, a number of contact phases were carried out with the schools. First, a list of all the rural schools was drawn up, then all of them were contacted by e-mail and telephone, and finally a small meeting was held where the schools expressed their doubts about the study. (4). Data collection was carried out through 30 semi-structured interviews and informal conversations over a period of 9 months. The use of semi-structured interviews allows the study of a specific aspect based on an open and flexible script, in an informal context, starting from a previously defined core of interest (Coffrey and Atkinson, 2003).

Through the process of data analysis and by establishing a process of comparison with previous studies, the meanings of rural school are extracted. In this sense, three meanings area (1) as a fourth category school, (2) from a market and metrocentric point of view, and (3) from the recognition of its pedagogical value. Traditionally, the concept of rural school has been linked to a fourth category school. Several researchers have highlighted a recurrent tendency in policy debates to see rural schools as inferior (Hargreaves, 2009), promoting policies that put their maintenance at risk (Fargas-Malet and Bagley, 2021). In this sense, the idea of the "fourth-rate school" is part of the social ideology, which is still present today (Feu, 2004; Vigo and Soriano, 2020). This vision is thus reinforced by a persistent policies towards rural schools due to a predominantly restrictive, homogenising and centrist perspective (Hargreaves, 2009: Beach et al., 2020). The related metro-centric and mercantilist vision of education has led to the imposition of an urban organisational model on the rural territory (Corbett, 2016) that seeks economic optimisation (Autti-Beihammer, 2014). However, in contrast to this view, numerous studies, which are supported by the contributions of the participating schools, highlight the pedagogical value of the rural school (Hargreaves, 2009; Raggl, 2020; Vigo and Soriano, 2020), which mainly focuses on the relationship with the community, the environment, the inclusion of local culture in the school culture, as well as the possibility of implementing creative practices as a result of the low ratio (Raggl, 2020). More specifically, there are differences in teachers' perceptions depending on where they work. While teachers in clusters recognize the rural school as a way of organization, those who work in small rural schools undertand the rural schools from a pedagogical value in connection with the social context.

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