Enhancing the Rural Option: An International Perspective

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I chose ‘Enhancing the Rural Option: An International Perspective’ by Dr Jonathan Sher of the OECD
and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill because the themes and tensions he refers to are
still present today. He refers to rural schools and rural communities being tenacious, diverse and
possible. He explains how surviving is not enough but that we must also strive to improve rural
schools. We have to remember that the meaning of the term ‘rural’ varies enormously from country
to country. Sher describes the role that technology and blended learning can play in rural education.
He extols the virtues of routing education in the local setting, in experiential learning and fostering
community involvement, all themes we can recognise around us today. Sher has a rallying cry: that
the survival of rural schools is not enough; they must also have active and appropriate support.

Rachel Shanks
June 2016

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