<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Czech parents place particular emphasis on ensuring the overall quality of life of their child when choosing a school. Our study shows how rural state schools understand this demand. A mixed approach was used in our research. In the first step, administrative data from all schools in municipalities with a population of up to 3,000 was used to shortlist 91 schools in demand by both catchment and non-catchment families. In the second step, socio-geographic data on type of municipality, online presentations, and other documents of the shortlisted schools were analysed. In the last step, case studies of 13 schools were prepared on the basis of parent surveys and interviews with stakeholders. We present case studies of three schools with different explicitly expressed approaches to satisfying parental preferences through a specific mix of care for well-being and valued characteristics of the rural environment. Our study adds to the existing literature on school choice and school leadership by describing specific developmental and/or marketing strategies of rural schools based on the real or perceived characteristics of the countryside.</p>
</abstract>

Czech parents place particular emphasis on ensuring the overall quality of life of their child when choosing a school. Our study shows how rural state schools understand this demand. A mixed approach was used in our research. In the first step, administrative data from all schools in municipalities with a population of up to 3,000 was used to shortlist 91 schools in demand by both catchment and non-catchment families. In the second step, socio-geographic data on type of municipality, online presentations, and other documents of the shortlisted schools were analysed. In the last step, case studies of 13 schools were prepared on the basis of parent surveys and interviews with stakeholders. We present case studies of three schools with different explicitly expressed approaches to satisfying parental preferences through a specific mix of care for well-being and valued characteristics of the rural environment. Our study adds to the existing literature on school choice and school leadership by describing specific developmental and/or marketing strategies of rural schools based on the real or perceived characteristics of the countryside.

How rural schools in Czechia respond to parental preferences: Different approaches to students’ well-being

Ph.D., Department of Special and Social Education, Faculty of Education

Jan Evangelista PurkyněUniversity in Ústí nad Labem

associate professor, Department of Special and Social Education, Faculty of Education

Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem

Ph.D., Department of Philosophy and Humanities, Faculty of Arts

Ph.D., Department of Geography, Faculty of Science

Journal of Pedagogy

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Czech parents place particular emphasis on ensuring the overall quality of life of their child when choosing a school. Our study shows how rural state schools...

How rural schools in Czechia respond to parental preferences: Different approaches to students’ well-being

Published Online: Jan 14, 2023

Page range: 105 - 127

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jped-2022-0010

Keywords
in-demand schools, rural schools, rurality, well-being, school choice

© 2022 Zdeněk Svoboda et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How rural schools in Czechia respond to parental preferences: Different approaches to students’ well-being

Published Online: Jan 14, 2023

Page range: 105 - 127

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jped-2022-0010

Keywordsin-demand schools, rural schools, rurality, well-being, school choice

© 2022 Zdeněk Svoboda et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
in-demand schools, rural schools, rurality, well-being, school choice