This paper explores the form of intergenerational learning taking place in rural communities in Malawi within the context of changing family structures. It is based on an ethnographic study conducted in Chipanga and Ndemanga rural communities in Malawi. The study explored the kind of intergenerational learning practices in which community members…

The transformational power of education is considered crucial to improving life outcomes. However, girls in rural India often still face barriers to learning. The literature notes economic and socio-cultural barriers to girls' education which both mediate, and are affected by, parental aspirations. This research explored the aspirations for girls'…

Girls' hostels are an intervention used in many countries to create safe learning environments and ultimately promote girls' enrolment, participation and academic success. In contrast, many of the girls' hostels built in Tanzania's community secondary schools are underutilised, and others are not used at all. Using Maslow's theoretical framework,…

Several communities in India have defined the contours of the extent and quality of women's education based on the shifts in the demands of marriage within the community. The following paper traces a similar pattern in the educational trajectories of first-generation women of the Meena community across the rural and urban areas, to access the…

Little attention has been paid to the role that low levels of cognitive development (or IQ) play among both left-behind children (LBCs) and children living with parents (CLPs) in the context of poor educational attainment in rural China. In this paper, we examine how general cognitive abilities contribute to the academic achievement gains of both…

Sweden may be wealthy, but uneven distributions of resources still affect students' access to higher education and career choices. Some variation is linked to rural/urban divides, but myriads of other factors may also influence young people's options in transitions. Here I explore these issues, using data collected from interviews with study and…

This case study, by using transformative learning underpinned by critical realism, explores how a contextualised and non-confrontational rights-based approach by a Cambodian non-governmental organisation (NGO) has influenced rural citizens' agency in fulfilling their rights to development. The NGO, by working closely with the government, has…

My qualitative research in South-Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo suggests that teachers link experienced violence to their role as state representatives. Three elements evoke the militia's distrust: literacy, cell phones, and mobility. Reportedly, militias assume that teachers use these elements to cooperate with the military. This article…

Egypt has long promised quality basic education. Nevertheless, international and national assessments show poor reading skills. Community schools (CS) are a component of Egypt's Education for All strategy. CS were intended to offer quality education to children who otherwise would have no chance to complete primary school. Previous studies report…

This research aims to unearth the educational challenges experienced by teachers and communities in rural Turkey. The research employs Nancy Fraser's three dimensional justice approach -- distribution, recognition and participation -- to frame these challenges and to argue that rural challenges go beyond economic rationalities and concerns of…

The extraordinary expansion of higher education has not been accompanied by more equitable access to universities for various disadvantaged groups. Rural youth is at the heart of this study that draws on secondary data and literature to examine rural-urban disparities in higher education access in two high-participation systems in the Caucasus and…

This article is based on research about the relations and tensions between secondary students' subjectivities and dominant discourses as well as education policies in rural contexts in Chile (a well-known case of neoliberal policies in recent decades). Using a poststructural theoretical perspective, the qualitative study is focused on rural…

A growing evidence base highlights the value of high-quality early childhood education (ECE) to children's cognitive and social development. However, far less is known about how families and children, especially in developing countries, participate in ECE or how these participation patterns reflect families' thinking and decision-making. This…

State schooling is currently transforming Tibetans' perceptions and everyday experiences in Western China. Based on interviews with rural Tibetan parents and grandparents, and using subjectification as an analytical concept, this paper argues that schooling, alongside socio-economic changes, powerfully shapes the subjectivities of Tibetan parents…

This article reports on research conducted to investigate student confidence in reading by collecting data from 135 primary schools in rural China. In the survey, we adopted the PIRLS scales of confidence in reading and reading skills test items. Our analysis shows that compared to the other countries and regions, rural China ranks last with…