The Rural School from Child's Point of View: A Participatory Research Through Photovoice

Abstract

Rural schools have been studied throughout their history. However, the presence of the students' perspective in these schools has not been a preferred topic. The aim of this research is to listen to and make visible the opinions and feelings of the students enrolled in the grouped rural schools (CRA) in the province of Ourense (Spain). The methodology used is participatory in nature and is designed to achieve the collaboration, involvement, recognition, and acceptance of the participants. In the process developed, a first stage of awareness-raising and a second stage of negotiation and joint decision-making can be distinguished. At the same time, interpersonal and intrapersonal reflection are combined. Child-friendly data collection strategies are used: 6 multi-level assemblies (143 minutes of audio recordings), photovoice (303 textualised photographs) and drawing conversation (101 narrated drawings). Six schools participated, with a total of 101 school children enrolled in pre-school and primary education. The data analysis process was carried out with the ATLAS.ti 22 software. The results obtained show that the pupils' voice focuses mainly on five visions centered on the material, academic, contextual, emotional, and relational aspects. In addition, play stands out as a transversal axis that saturates all the categories. The conclusions show the importance of taking into account the voice of the pupils, as it allows the participation of all pupils with a diversity of competences, skills and expressive styles.