RURAL SCHOOLS IN BULGARIA: CULTURAL SPECIFICS IN A NATIONAL PICTURE

Objectives: The article objectives are studying some of the ongoing transformations in the Bulgarian education with an emphasis on the rural context. The analysis outlines a general picture of the rural education in Bulgaria, referring to the declining number of schools, teachers and students, as well as discussing the phenomena of “small classes” and “co-classrooms”, leading to restructuring of rural school education, related to a change in the methods of teaching and training students. Materials and methods: The methods used in the analysis include document analysis, interviews with the teachers and the headmasters as participants in the educational process and a focus group with parents. The article is a secondary analysis of a field research conducted in 2016. The secondary analysis was made within the project “Quality of life and well-being in the context of the professional communities and their activity” КП-06-ПН80/2, funded by National Science Fund. Results: The main results of the article are aimed at evaluating the measures taken in formal education as specific responses to the decreasing number of students. Different perspectives of teachers and parents are shown in order to emphasize the views of the main actors in the rural school and their attitude towards the phenomenon of “co-classrooms”. Conclusions: The conclusion states that the implementation of unpopular decisions is aimed at preserving the quality of education and its effectiveness. It is emphasized that solutions and approaches are sought to preserve rural schools and maintain people’s educational values. Keywords: rural schools, school closure, small classes, “co-classrooms”, Bulgarian rural education