The Collective Imagination On The Value Of The Rural Environment That The School Builds

Abstract

The assessment of the rural world that predominates in the teachers and students of El Bierzo (León), a region located in the heart of the so-called “emptied Spain”, has been investigated. The hypothesis from which we started is that in order to change the growing depopulation of rural areas, it is necessary to build a story of hope, which values ​​why it is desirable to inhabit the towns. If there is no desirable future in the rural area, it is difficult for anyone to want to inhabit it. The research methodology has been mixed, triangulating quantitative instruments (questionnaires) with qualitative ones (interviews and discussion groups). The results of the research indicate that teachers and students perceive that the value of the rural world is invisible or forgotten in textbooks and school materials and that the expectations of school practice are marked by an urban imaginary that does not sufficiently place Value the rural environment in which you live. In the discussion and conclusions, it is highlighted that the construction of this collective imaginary, to which the school also contributes, does not help young people to settle in the rural world, but rather to leave it, which requires rethinking it.