Schools and their local communities

Through a dossier of ten case studies across six continents, Guest Editors David Giband and Laurent Rieutort consider a paradox: while education systems are being reconfigured by the forces of globalisation, privatisation and competition, it is at local level that the most vibrant and promising initiatives often emerge.

In countries of the Global South as in the North, the link between schools and territories is by no means fixed. It is being negotiated, weakened or reinvented as a result of geographical changes (urbanisation, metropolisation, rural depopulation); social changes (inequalities, mobility, migration); political dynamics (decentralisation, territorialisation, multi-stakeholder partnerships); and communities mobilising to harness novel ways of embedding education at local level.

The concept of a ‘learning territory’ takes on its full meaning here: a collective intelligence sustained by local players, the promotion of local resources, and the construction of a common space for schools, families, local organisations, elected representatives and institutions.

In the United States, for example, schools are seen as urban amenities and harnessed in policies aiming to boost the attractiveness of changing cities. In France, the ‘Cités Educatives’ programme questions the ability of the state to orchestrate education policies based on partnership and local planning. In China, a case study of a village in Hubei highlights staggering disparities in educational provision and parental strategies to bypass them. In Ecuador, education quality policies have sometimes sacrificed community roots in the name of measurable standards.

In Ireland, Learning Neighbourhoods are building collaborative educational ecosystems in the face of educational inequalities. In Dakar, the concentration of private higher education establishments in one district leads to significant urban restructuring. In the Solomon Islands, the role of school leaders is crucial in ensuring harmonious relationships within communities competing for influence. In Myanmar, it is the involvement of local communities that is sustaining education in conflict zones. Meanwhile, in Greece, Spain and Portugal, schools draw on local resources and heritage to create or strengthen a sense of community.

This issue is an invitation to take a fresh look at education policies through the prism of the local area and the players who inhabit it, bring it to life and move it forwards.