Vol. 14 No. 3 (2025) Current Issue
Full Issue
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THEMATIC PAPERS – Rural Small Schools and Social Disadvantage in Peripheral Regions
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Schools on the Edge – Struggling with Multiple Disadvantages in Numbers
5-27Views:17This introductory study examines the situation of small rural schools in Hungary using statistical data from 1990 to 2022. The paper aimed to identify settlements where primary education has been permanently absent or operates in a limited “small school” format. Findings reveal that school closures and the transformation into small schools are concentrated in peripheral areas burdened by social, economic, and infrastructural disadvantages. Nearly half of Hungarian settlements lack a primary school, while the number of small schools has steadily declined, with significant fluctuations in their status. The study highlights that remote, service-deficient regions fail to attract highly qualified teachers despite salary increases, further deepening educational inequalities. Maintaining small schools is not merely an educational policy issue but a matter of social cohesion, as the disappearance of local institutions perpetuates disadvantages and increases the risk of segregation.
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Rural Small Schools’ Social Functions and Structural Dilemmas in Disadvantaged Areas
28-53Views:15This study examines the situation of small rural schools in disadvantaged areas, structured around five main research questions: (1) how small schools can be defined conceptually and what their key characteristics are, (2) what structural and operational challenges they face, (3) how they are related to educational inequalities, (4) what community roles and functions they fulfil, and (5) what social policy directions and preservation arguments can be identified. The analysis was based on a systematic literature review carried outin 2025. From 2847 initial records, 127 relevant publications (89 international and 38 Hungarian) were included and analysed through thematic synthesis, covering both national and international databases. The findings indicate that small rural schools are not merely educational institutions but also key nodes of social capital, cultural identity, and economic viability in rural societies. At the same time, in disadvantaged regions, compositional effects and segregation processes amplify the reproduction of disadvantage, leading to the “equity trap” dilemma, access alone does not guarantee genuine equality of opportunity. The study concludes that the survival of small rural schools requires targeted social policy interventions that balance the need for access with the assurance of educational quality.
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Village community and the school: Community-building and community-preserving function of rural small schools
54-75Views:13This study examines the community-building and community-preserving functions of rural small schools through an analysis of international and Hungarian literature. Although definitions of “small school” vary across countries, these institutions share the characteristic of operating in small settlements and fulfilling not only educational but also important social and cultural roles. Rural schools function as multidimensional community spaces that support everyday interactions, strengthen social capital – trust, cooperation, and social networks – and contribute to the maintenance of local identity. International research shows that school closures often lead to weakened social cohesion, increased outmigration, and economic decline. Hungarian studies similarly highlight that rural schools are key institutions of local communities, and their disappearance may result in the long-term erosion of social and cultural structures. The study argues that sustaining small rural schools is not merely an educational policy concern but a crucial aspect of functioning of local communities and local resilience.
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The Social Ecology of Rural Schools: Family-Community-School Relationships in Cross-National Perspective
76-103Views:17Rural small schools are situated at the intersection of educational and social inequalities, where students’ learning outcomes and overall development are closely tied to the quality of relationships among families, schools, and local communities. Although extensive research has examined parental involvement and social capital, relatively few comparative studies have explored the social ecology of rural small schools-particularly the interrelations between family milieu, community embeddedness, and institutional autonomy. This study addresses this gap through a systematic review of empirical and theoretical research published between 2010 and 2024. The analysis draws on Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model, Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital, Coleman’s concept of social capital, and Epstein’s typology of parental involvement. Findings indicate that the family-community-school nexus exerts a multi-level and interactive influence on children’s cognitive, emotional, and social development-directly through family practices, indirectly via the quality of parent-school relationships, and structurally through local social capital and institutional resources. A cross-national comparison reveals that while rural schools are universally positioned within structures of educational disadvantage, variations in cultural norms, community organization, and policy frameworks crucially determine whether family and community resources mitigate or reinforce these inequalities. The study concludes that the success of rural small schools depends not on the quantity of resources but on the quality of relationships. Trust, reciprocity, and partnership within the family-school-community triangle are essential foundations of rural resilience. Policy interventions are most effective when they strengthen the community-based and family-centered functions of small schools, embedding parental involvement as an integral element of the learning process.
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The impact of low social status on educational opportunities
104-119Views:16The aim of the study is to show the impact of low social status and sociocultural disadvantages on children’s educational opportunities. Particular emphasis is placed on disadvantaged small settlements, which often have less favorable indicators, which is also reflected in educational institutions: the proportion of disadvantaged students is high, and their development is often ineffective with traditional pedagogical methods. The study is based on a systematic literature review, which includes international Q1 and Q2 journals as well as domestic studies. The results highlight that the education system has a dual function: it can both mitigate and reproduce social inequalities. Socio-cultural disadvantages consist of complex factors – low parental education, existential insecurity, unstable family structure, minority status, segregation – all of which reinforce each other’s effects at the systemic level. Language use plays a key role, as the use of a limited language code is a disadvantage in school participation and performance. The socio-economic status of the family, early childhood development opportunities, and cooperation between school and family are determining factors in educational success, so improving equal opportunities for disadvantaged students requires a long-term, systemic approach in which schools, families, and communities all play a key role.
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The family environment in disadvantaged families and its psychological effects on sociocultural disadvantages
120-134Views:7Sociocultural disadvantage is a cultural deficit resulting from a disadvantaged situation, which, according to the norms of the majority society, means a lower level of education, poorer school performance, a lower level of knowledge of the behavioral rules necessary for social advancement, and keeping to those norms, among other things. Increasing attention is devoted to underdeveloped social competencies as disadvantages (e.g. communication and cooperation skills, self-regulation), which help, for example, to achieve good school performance. Social competencies are fundamentally related to the family environment in childhood. Our study discusses the psychological effects of the family environment through a systematic literature search. The relationships are discussed between stress and children’s psychosocial and cognitive development; the relationship between parents’ attitudes towards school education and children’s learning attitudes and perseverance; and the relationship between parenting style and self-regulation. The study argues that parents cannot be excluded from disadvantage compensation programs aimed at reducing sociocultural disadvantages.
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„Promise is a nice word, but is it good if we keep it” – A review of the literature on programs designed to develop social skills of disadvantaged children
135-160Views:10Childhood social-emotional development lays the foundation for an individual’s life path. A significant proportion of disadvantaged children born into low-status families have deficits in their abilities. According to the disadvantage compensation approach, the gap can be reduced, and even desirable behaviors can be successfully taught in any community (class, peer group, parents, adults, etc.) with the help of professional experts. In our study, we undertake to provide an overview of disadvantage compensation programs developed for school-age children and younger children, based on international and domestic literature, with the aim of strengthening social competencies. In addition to presenting good examples, our goal is to create a complex and critical picture of programs aimed at developing social competencies, especially domestic programs, based on a qualitative evaluation criteria system, which may be useful in the future for professional efforts aimed at helping and developing disadvantage compensation. The ideas of international and domestic education researchers about good practices show many similarities. We believe that both in the domestic and international arenas there is enough good practice, methodological guidelines, training that strengthens self-awareness and responsibility, and theoretical foundations that can inspire experts (teachers, helpers, parents, civilians, etc.) in effective and enjoyable development activities. However, success can only be ensured through continuous and controlled pedagogical and social support work, impact monitoring, and program review. With detailed knowledge of the situation in Hungary, it can be said that disadvantage compensation is practically competing with falling behind. In lucky cases, the distance between groups, the extent and speed of falling behind can be reduced. The difficulties are exacerbated by the lack of a sufficient number of qualified human resources for catch-up programs, and the development of tools and buildings is uneven and, above all, not continuous. The limitations of the effectiveness of disadvantage compensation cannot therefore be found in the quality of the programs developed on the appropriate conceptual background, but in fundamentally structural reasons. In our article, we critically analyze the domestic and international efforts of the past two decades and draw attention to successful solutions and opportunities for further development.
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Help professionals in schools and in local communities, with a particular focus on mental health
161-185Views:8This study was conducted as part of a larger research project aimed at gaining a detailed understanding of rural elementary schools in disadvantaged areas and their environment to formulate recommendations for their development. This paper summarizes international and Hungarian literature that presents the work and methods of professionals working in small settlements, as well as programs targeting disadvantaged children and young people living there, with a particular focus on mental health and school inclusion. The target group belongs to the most vulnerable in society, as they have to face complex problems at a very early age. With this in mind, we have divided the study into two main sections. In the first part, we emphasize the power of community cooperation in and outside of school, presenting practices on both national and international level. In the second section, we present a specific problem that strongly affects the target group, namely alcoholism and substance abuse, and its impact on children’s lives and mental health. The main conclusion of the study is that if we want to improve their living conditions, school performance, and mental health, we need complex, multi-professional cooperation and intervention as early as possible.
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Conceptual approaches to child vulnerability, child protection contexts
186-202Views:9The examination of conceptual approaches that determine the vulnerability of children and different child protection orientations is not only of scientific significance, but also of policy relevance, as it is an issue that greatly affects the security and well-being of societies. This study uses systematic literature review to examine conceptual approaches to child vulnerability and different child protection contexts in terms of social embeddedness. In addition to theoretical models, which essentially seek to identify the causes of threatening situations, predictive models and studies based on the complexity of risk and protective factors are becoming increasingly prominent. The child protection orientations largely determine the institutional structures and public policy mechanisms developed to protect children. These mechanisms are also largely influenced by the values and the trust represented by society.
