A RURAL PERSPECTIVE: SCHOOL CLOSURE AND COMMUNITY PROTEST
Abstract
Are the small communities of rural North America already doomed to disappear, and is closing their schools not objectively an inevitable part of a larger process? Well, no; probably. A reasonable prediction from the "objective" data would have seen most of them disappear well before now. Barry Lucas looks at conflicts over school closure in Saskatchewan and sees behind the familiar dilemmas, between the subjective fears of a community and the objective data used by a school board, failures to get to grips with the real problem, which demands a political solution. A systems perspective in social policy-making would show the way. RÉSUMÉ Les petites localités rurales de l'Amérique du nord ne sont-elles pas vouées à la disparition et la fermeture de leurs écoles n'est-elle pas objectivement un élément inévitable d'un processus plus global? Eh bien non; sans doute pas. Selon des données "objectives" dont on dispose à cet égard, la plupart d'entre elles auraient dû fermer leurs portes il y a déjà longtemps. Barry Lucas examine les conflits provoqués par la fermeture d'écoles en Saskatchewan et il voit derrière les dilemmes habituels, entre les craintes subjectives des localités touchées et les données objectives qu'utilisent les commissions scolaires, l'incapacité de cerner le vrai problème, lequel passe par une solution politique. Une perspective analytique de la formulation des politiques sociales pourrait indiquer la voie.Downloads
Published
1982-09-01
How to Cite
Lucas, B. G. (1982). A RURAL PERSPECTIVE: SCHOOL CLOSURE AND COMMUNITY PROTEST. McGill Journal of Education / Revue Des Sciences De l’éducation De McGill, 17(003). Retrieved from https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/7475
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