Abstract
Current policies in education that support school choice can be a threat, but also an opportunity for rural schools that are often at risk of closure or amalgamation/consolidation. Studies from Western Europe found two types of schools using the "capitals" of the rural environment in different ways: "community" and "magnet" schools.
Our mixed-methods study enriches the discussion on successful rural schools, considering both the school leadership strategies and the situation on the local quasi-market of schools in a post-socialist Central European country, Czechia. In the first step, using data for all Czech rural elementary schools, we identified schools that were in demand by both local and out-of-catchment-area students.
In the second step, we performed a detailed qualitative analysis of 13 selected case schools and their local quasi-markets. The usefulness of the analytical distinction between rural schools that are oriented towards the needs of the local community and those that use rural capital to meet the needs of liberal middle-class families is demonstrated.
At the same time, there is a group of rural schools that try to balance the interests of both groups. The article presents vignettes of three such schools.
Our study provides a deeper insight into the community/magnet typology, building on the perspective of a different part of Europe, and brings important insights for educational policy and the leadership of rural schools.