Conference Agenda

School assemblages (Bennet, 2010) with their communities of people, curricula, buildings, connections with services, financial resources etc are entangled with their localities. Generally, great emphasis is put onto the importance of schools for communities and the possibilities of reciprocal benefits-for example the OECD (2018) state ‘Schools do not operate in a vacuum. Successful schools depend on the resources and support of their communities and schools at the centre of their communities are often the most successful schools. In turn, schools are vital to the social health of their local communities.” (OECD, 2018. Valuing our Teachers and Raising their Status How Communities Can Help).

Schools may be seen as ‘assets’ to places (Forrester et al, 2020) and are often expressed as ‘hearts’ of communities (Fargas Malet & Bagley, 2024), as ‘anchor institutions’ (Townshend et al, 2022) or learning hubs, at the social centre of communities (Cleveland et al, 2023). However, with the disconnection of schools from their communities and localities through mobility of students and school choice, for example, school-locality assemblages may be much more complex than first imagined (Wilkins, 2018).

With a renewed focus on demographic changes in Europe and other parts of the world, the possibilities of school closures are higher on political agenda (Eddins et al, 2024). There is a great deal of talk about school closures and rationalisations across the world, contingent with contemporary global polycrises, which includes demographic changes including rural depopulation (for example in Japan and India, urban population shifts in the US and reducing birth rates (such as in England). Studies of the impacts of the closure of schools on their communities (and the injustices associated with these) are significant but remain primarily anecdotal and small and there has been little systematic exploration of the wider impacts of school closures on their communities (Sageman, 2022).

The contributions in this symposium will bring together the work of researchers interested in the educational, social, economic and environmental impacts of schools and their assemblages in and with their communities and localities, in these times of liquid modernity (Bauman, 2000). As schools and their networks are rationalised, closed or reduced in size in response to population decline and reorganisations, the human resources (teachers, school leaders, students etc) are impacted. This diverse collection of papers considers impact factors external to schools such as demographic change and associated policy development. The collection also includes studies focussed within schools, including a consideration of school leaders and the status and preparation for multi-age teaching and learning in combined classes, listening to those with lived experience.

Within Europe it has been recognised that school closures are a threat and often associated with “a policy bias which presumes that rural schools are somehow deficient” (Malet & Bagley, 2021, p. 830). It is important to understand the impact of this policy bias on the lived experience of rural primary schools and their communities. Through qualitative research a portrait of small rural school in its community in Scotland was developed. Research was carried out within a small rural primary school from August to December 2022. The school been part of previous closure consultations. The methodology of portraiture was utilised to paint a picture of the relationship of the school and its community to national policy. The portraitist aimed to “interpret the perspectives and experience” of the school community of Onloch Primary School and ‘document their voice, visions, authority, knowledge and wisdom of policy in action in the small rural primary school (Lawrence-Lighfoot & Davis, 1997, p xv). Data was captured through observation, discussion and semi- structured interviews with the children, staff and parents of the school to build a picture of the lived experiences and the daily life of the school. The day-to-day portraits of how policy impacted on practice were illustrated through the work of the Head Teacher, teachers and children. Their practice demonstrated their ability to develop different teaching approaches in a multigrade classroom (Cannella, 2020). They were also skilled actors of interpreting policy for their context utilising the learning environment, the place and space for the enactment of policy (Priestley and Philippou, 2018). The portrait conveys the story of how the school within its setting and context and challenges the deficit policy bias. There is a strong commitment to the outdoor environment and the role of the school in the community. The children were at the centre of their learning in context and were encouraged to ask, interogate, innovate and question their findings. Onloch Primary School demonstrated that it was a “community active” school (Solstad,1997) learning in the environment and gaining knowledge about sustainability locally and globally. However, there remains a challenge on how to sustain and support education in rurally isolated areas where the rolls may be small. The importance of the views and voices of the subjects within the portrait are important to the future of rural schools.

Cannella G (2020) Globalizing the local and localizing the global: The role of the ICT in isolated mountain and island schools in Italy. In: Gristy C, Hargreaves L, Kučerová SR (eds) Educational Research and Schooling in Rural Europe: An Engagement with Changing Patterns of Education, Space, and Place. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing, pp.217–235. Fargas-Malet, M., & Bagley, C. (2021). Is small beautiful? A scoping review of 21st-century research on small rural schools in Europe. European Educational Research Journal, 21(5), 822-844. https://doi.org/10.1177/14749041211022202 (Original work published 2022) Lawrence-Lightfoot, S., and Hoffman Davis., (1997) The Art and Science of Portraiture, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Priestley, M., & Philippou, S. (2018). Curriculum making as social practice: complex webs of enactment. Curriculum Journal (London, England), 29(2), 151–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585176.2018.1451096 Solstad KJ (1997) Equity at Risk. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press

In this abstract a small school is defined as a school with fewer than 50 pupils, often located in remote and sparsely populated areas and there are combined classes (see Peltonen & Kilpeläinen 2025, 2; Kilpeläinen 2014, 269). Community refers to the mutual belonging of people, the development of social solidarity and the recognition of genuine citizenship (Pentti 2003, 106–108). Its prerequisites are understanding partnership, bringing one's own strengths to common use, trust relationships and reciprocal networked activities. (Kilpeläinen 2010, 81) The presentation tells the special features of small schools communality. A psychosocial strength of a small school is a strong sense of community. This is reflected in the internal cooperation of the school, the educational partnership between the school and the home, and the cooperation between the school and the surrounding community. The close interaction between a small school and the surrounding community is one of the starting points for the formation of a school's sense of community and social capital (Kalaoja 2010, 178). The school's sense of community is seamlessly integrated with an atmosphere that is comfortable, safe and homely in a small school. It is said that a small school is like a big family, where everyone knows each other and life is successful through cooperation. Each small school has its own operating culture that supports the building of a sense of community. Qualified teachers are the builders of a small school's sense of community. A sense of community forms a safety net of adults and children of different ages around the child to support and promote the child's growth and learning. (Kilpeläinen 2010)

Kalaoja, E. (2010) Mitä yhdysluokkaopetuksella tarkoitetaan? In E. Korpinen (toim.) Eläköön kyläkoulu! (pp 102-104). Opetus 2000. Jyväskylä, PS-kustannus. Kilpeläinen, R. (2010b) Kyläkoulut Suomessa: Maaseudun pienet koulut opettajien kuvaamina oppimis- ja kasvuympäristöinä. Oulun yliopisto. Kilpeläinen, R. (2014) Kuka opettaisi kyläkouluopettajia?. Kasvatus: Suomen kasvatustieteellinen aikakauskirja, 45 (3), pp 269-273. Peltonen, T. & Kilpeläinen, R. (2025) Training of village school teachers in Finland: Multi-grade teaching and inclusion. International Journal of Educational Research. Vol. 133, 2025. Pentti, V. (2003). Turvallinen yhteisö - turvattu yksilö: Turvallisuutta kasvatuksen ja yhteiskuntapolitiikan keinoin. Helsinki: Yliopistopaino.

Japan has been working on regional revitalization since 2000 with the aim of revitalizing local communities. One initiative in the revitalisation programme is the promotion of integrated community schools and local school collaborative activities in the field of education. The underlying factors leading to the need for revitalisation are diverse, including structural changes in society, the need for community revitalization due to population decline (Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2024) and teacher workload reform. Furthermore, the need for a curriculum that is open to society, as dictated by the revised National Curriculum, is also an important factor driving the need for school-community collaboration. Community schools are schools where parents, local residents, and others participate in school management with a certain degree of authority and responsibility. They share a vision of the type of children they want to raise and the type of education they should aim for, and work together to achieve those goals. A deliberative organization called a school management council has been established (Uchidayoko, 2024) Community school collaborative activities involve a wide range of local residents, supporting children's learning and growth throughout the community, and involve various activities in which the community and school work together as partners, with the aim of "school-centred community development." Community school collaborative activity coordinators play a central role in promoting school educational activities and local revitalization through collaboration between schools and the community. While these activities are being promoted nationwide, they are particularly significant in rural areas (Ueda, 2025). This presentation aims to clarify two points, using the example of community schools and local school collaboration activities in Japan: 1. what impact collaboration between schools and communities has on school educational activities and community revitalization, 2. what conditions are necessary for this impact to occur. The research methods involve text analysis of policy documents and research reports. The research subjects include policy documents issued by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT, 2025)) and the Cabinet Office in Japan, as well as research studies commissioned by MEXT and outcome reports published by local governments. Finally, case studies will be conducted with three local governments to examine the impact and conditions clarified from the analysis.

MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and technology – Japan) (2025). Principles Guide Japan’s Educational System https://www.mext.go.jp/ en/policy/education/over view/index.htm. accessed 2025 Statistic Bureau of Japan (2024) Current Population Estimates as of October 1, 2024 https://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/jinsui/2024np/index.html#a15k01-a Uchidayoko（2024)CORE High School Network Initiative Small High School Network model research report. COREハイスクール・ネットワーク構想における小規模高等学校ネットワークモデルに関する調査研究：文部科学省 Ueda, M. (2025) Building School Networks to Achieve Sustainable Small Schools: Japan’s Challenge. BELMAS conference, Brighton

The impacts of the closure of a school on its communities remain primarily anecdotal and there has been little systematic research (Sageman, 2021). School closures contingent with demographic changes including rural depopulation (for example in Japan and India) and reducing birth rates (such as in England and Italy) are happening across the world; see for example Cedering & Wihlborg (2020) Sweden; Haynes (2022) Canada; Villa & Solstad (2021) Norway; Kearns et al (2009) New Zealand). This paper reports findings of a case study of a school closure policy in England and posits a research and practice informed model being developed to assess impacts of school closures on localities. It is generally assumed that the closure of a school will have a negative impact on its community and/or locality (but this is not always the case) and there may be rules around assessing the impact of closing (or rationalising networks) of government funded schools. For example in Finland the decline in school numbers, particularly schools in villages in rural areas is well documented (See for example Lehtonen, 2021) and there are sets of rules guide local government plans for school network reorganisations, consolidations etc. The fast moving waves of school closures seen in other countries such as Poland (Kloczko-Gajewska, 2020) appear to have been primarily driven (as in many other countries) by economic rationalisation. In England there are a set of policies and actions that the organisation running the schoool (local governent) or academy/ trust is required to follow before a school can be closed or ammalgamted with another school. These are primarily based on pupil numbers and assessment of ‘viability’. Only in the case of schools designated as ‘rural’ is there a requirement to consider impacts on the local community. This paper reports a scoping literature review regarding the research evidence for the impacts of school closures on communities. There is also a detailed analysis of the ‘Opening and closing maintained schools Statutory guidance for proposers and decision makers- England’ (DfE, 2024). With a view to developing measures for systematic assessment of the impacts of school closure on communities and consideration of social and spatial dimensions. The author posits a research and practice informed model, drawing on research informed impact measurement in social and environmental sustainabilty contexts.

Cedering, M. & Wihlborg, E. (2020) Village schools as a hub in the community - A time-geographical analysis of the closing of two rural schools in southern Sweden, Journal of Rural Studies, 606-617. DfE (2024) Opening and closing maintained schools Statutory guidance for proposers and decision assets.publishing.service.gov.uk Haynes, M. (2022). The impacts of school closure on rural communities in Canada: A review. The Rural Educator, 43(2), 60-74. Kearns, R., Lewis, N., McCreanor, T. & Witten, K (2009) ‘The status quo is not an option’: Community impacts of school closure in South Taranaki, New Zealand, Journal of Rural Studies, 25 (1)131-140. Kloczko-Gajewska, A. (2020) Long-Term Impact of Closing Rural Schools on Local Social Capital: A Multiple-Case Study from Poland. European Countryside 12(4):598-617 Lehtonen, O. (2021) Primary school closures and population development – is school vitality an investment in the attractiveness of the (rural) communities or not? Journal of Rural Studies, 82. 138-147 Sageman, J (2022) School Closures and Rural Population Decline Rural Sociology 87(3), 960–992. Villa, M., Solstad, KJ. & Andrews, T. (2021) Rural schools and rural communities in times of centralization and rural–urban migration, Journal of Rural Studies, 88, 441-445