Within many OECD countries the delivery of rural education there are common aspects. Policy is often formulated at a national level without much consideration of local communities or the impact on particular rural areas.  

As an EdD researcher I am currently  interrogating the relationship between national education policy and how it is enacted in a rural place in Scotland. 

The research question that is being explored is:

How is national education policy enacted in rural education and how does the rural place/context influence the policy being created?

During the Ignite Talk I will present the work taking place in the investigation on how national policy is developed in context and involves a study of a small rural school within a shared headship. The investigation is also exploring the views of rural education through the lens of semi structured interviews with national and local policy makers. During the investigation the relationships between the rural school, it’s immediate locality (place), wider locality and national will be explored.

The interaction between a rural school and place in the community is a complex one and Corbett (2015) states that rural schools are embedded in communities and potentially integrated within the community and often the heart of rural communities. Each rural school develops a unique place in the community and the “thisness” of a school (Thompson 2000) and the dimension of rural pedagogy displays the interaction between the journey, the place and impact on practices.

In my research the definition for the small rural schools is schools of under thirty pupils. Through analysis of semi structured interviews with policy makers, one of the emerging themes is context and place. The  theme of context and place will be presented and invite discussion of the relevant qualatative data gathered from national poloicy makers, headteachers and the school community of a very small rural school in the west coast of Scotland.  Pupils, staff, parents, and community members views on what is a rural school, why the school is important to the place and how the view of how the school provides equity and excellence have been collated. The thesis is auto ethnographic involving my own memories and practice as a rural education policy maker and the importance of place.

The relationship between human beings and their environment (place) is important in trying to understand education policy in the rural place. Working with participants it has been necessary for me as a researcher to understand their interpretation of the world (interpretive). Ethnography is concerned with how people make sense of their everyday world (Cohen et al 2007) and about exploring the shared culture of a group of people. It “is a method of inquiry that works from the actualities of people’s everyday lives and experiences to discover the social as it extends beyond experience” (Smith 2005:10) and takes a cultural lens to the study of people’s lives within their communities (Hammersley and Atkinson, 2007; Fetterman 2010). The roots of ethnography are situated in studies of social and cultural events within small communities. Van Maanene (2011) refers to the getting to know people as “part spy, part voyeur, part fan, part member”. 

As a researcher I am personally, emotionally, and politically involved in rural education and have personal entanglements which can be a strength for ethnographic methodology (Mills and Morton 2013) however it is important to reflect on this during my analysis of policy. Policy cannot be simply said to be understood and applied. It is important to understand the effect of how professional conversation and professional activity in context (place) themselves form policy (Adams 2011). 

My interest in rural education comes from a rich practical background within the field and built on an understanding of relationships at the heart of small rural schools. I have been involved in rural education for all my career. Hannerz (2010) refers to working within the “field” as an opportunity to observe people in place through a variety of situations of down, up, sideways, through, backward, forward, early or later, away and at home,’ which very much captures my own ethnographic research base. My research personae is in the field and the place and context is very much part of my being, seeing, thinking, and writing. The intersections of the place, my personal views and career are relevant in the field (Gupta and Ferguson 1997). The principles of ethnography as a qualitative research methodology which involves working with participants and inhabiting their world through a cultural lens (Hammersley and Atkinson, 2007; Fetterman 2010) provides me as a rural education researcher with a “culture of craftsmanship” (Marcus 2009,3). The engagement in the lives of those being studied, working with people in their own environment and collecting data from their lives within a field provides the framework for my research. My own knowledge, experience and relationship with the participants as allowed me to gain important insight and unique lens to interpret the data collected. My understanding of rural schools has allowed me to be entrusted within rural communities and gain an unique position as an ethnographic researcher providing a method for ensuring the importance of people, place, and culture and “fuels the sense of possibility” (Bruner 1997,42). Corbett (2015) states that rural schools are embedded in communities and potentially integrated within the community and often the heart of rural communities. Each rural school develops a unique place in the community and the “thisness” of a school (Thompson 2000) and the dimension of rural pedagogy displays the interaction between the journey, the place and impact on practices.

The question of how the national policy in relation to excellence and equity is developed and the influence of the rural context is one which is relevant to educations systems not only in Scotland where this research is being carried out.There has been little recognition of policy implementation in the rural context in Scotland. The research focus on place and context also give much needed spotlight on rural schools which can contribute to further work in EERA network 14.. The investigation will look to making sense of how national policy is developed in context by providing a study of a small rural school within a shared headship. The investigation will also explore the views of rural education through the lens of a variety of national and local policy makers. During the investigation the relationships between the rural school, it’s immediate locality, wider locality and national will be explored. The findings within the thesis will contribute to national policy and has potential to contribute to international work.

Adams, P. (2011) 'From 'ritual' to 'mindfulness': policy and pedagogic positioning', Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 32: 1, 57 — 69 Bartholomaeus,P.A., (2006) Some Rural examples of place –based education. International Education Journal 2006,7(4) 480-489 Bruner, J. (1997) The Culture of Education, Cambridge MA, Harvard University Press. Cohen, L., Manion,L. and Morrison,K.(2007) Research Methods in Fetterman DM (2010) Ethnography Step by Step. Third edition. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks CA. Corbett, M. (2015) Rural Education: Some Sociological Provocations for the Field. Australian & International Journal of Rural Education; 25 (3), 9-25 Fontana, A, and Frey, J. 2003 From Structured Questions to Negotiated Text. In Handbook of Qualitative Research N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln, eds. Pp. 61-106. Thousand Oaks: Sage Gupta, Akhil. and James. Ferguson (1997) ‘Discipline and practice: “The field” as site, method, and location in anthropology’ in A. Gupta and J. Ferguson (eds.) Anthropological Locations: Boundaries and Grounds of a Field Science. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp.1-46. Hammersley M, Atkinson P (2007) Ethnography: Principles in Practice. Third edition. Routledge, London. •Hannerz, Ulf. (2010) Anthropology’s World: Life in a Twenty-First Century Discipline. London: Pluto Press. Chapter 4: ‘Field worries: Studying down, up, sideways, through, backward, forward, early or later, away and at home.’ Marcus, G (2009).”Notes Towards and Ethnographic Memoir of Supervising Graduate Research through Anthropology’s Decades of Transformation.” Fieldwork is Not What It Used to Be Mills, D. and Morton, M, (2013) Ethnography in Education, Sage Publications, London Smith, Dorothy E. 2005. Institutional Ethnography: A Sociology for People. Toronto: Rowman and Littlefield Mills, D. and Morton,M, (2013) Ethnography in Education,Sage Publications, London Mintz, Sidney. 2000. ‘Sow’s ears and silver linings: A backward look at ethnography’ Current Anthropology 41(2): 169-189. Thomson, P. (2000) “Like Schools”, Educational “Disadvanatage” and Thisness”, Australian Educational Research Volume 27 Van Maanen,J.(2011 ) Ethnography as Work: Some Rules of Engagement, Journal of Management Studies 48:1 January 2011