Chapter 5: A Consideration of Czech Rural Schools from Different Scales: From Centrally Directed to Autonomous Educational Policies

The main goal of this chapter is to present the current situation regarding research into rural education and schooling in Czechia. By the term rural schooling, as applied to the Czech context, we mean researching external rather than internal school relationships (their spatial pattern and availability) while rural education addresses directly the operation of individual schools, educational processes, and policies. The first aim of the chapter is to conduct a meta-analysis of elementary schools research within main Czech scientific journals and present an overview of pertinent literature compiled by the authors. Secondly, we aim to present our research into the geography of education as a synthesis of knowledge about the development of the network of Czech rural elementary schools during the last 50 years. This synthesis includes reference to general as well as region-specific and historical-specific processes. In addition, a case study of a peripherally located rural region in Czechia will be used to illustrate problems of small rural schools in these kinds of regions, and the roles of particular actors in the process of their failure or success.