A rural education summer school

Unpacking the right to be rural

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v36i1.870

Keywords:

rural education, school consolidation, remote Japan, recognition theory, epistemic justice

Abstract

This article engages with one of the core missions of this journal - strengthening the research and practical links between Australian and international rural education. It does so through describing and reflecting on a one-week Summer School course on social justice and remote schooling the authors of this article delivered at Hokkaido University. A dozen postgraduate students took the course, which included a theoretical component, based on theories of justice and epistemic justice, and a fieldtrip to the remote community of Hamamasu in Hokkaido. Following Lefebvre’s idea of ‘the right to the city’, in this article we draw on the concept of the right to be rural to examine the process of rural and remote schooling and school consolidation in Japan. More specifically, we examine the idea of the right to be rural, we explain processes of rural schooling in Japan, and discuss the impact of a Summer School on students’ understanding of rural community life. Ultimately, we argue that the course exposed students to an epistemic process of recognition of rural schools, communities and life as asset rather than by reference to stereotypical notions that associate it with deficit views.

Author Biography

Hernan Cuervo, University of Melbourne

Hernan Cuervo is a Professor in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, at the University of Melbourne. His research interests are located in the fields of rural education, sociology of youth, and theory of justice. Prof. Cuervo’s research program is built around the project of addressing equity and social justice for young people, with a particular focus on rural spaces. In over two hundred publications, keynote addresses, and presentations, he has contributed to academic debates on the structural character of inequalities in school to work transitions experienced by young people, particularly in rural communities; and on the application of theory of justice (distribution and recognition) to the experiences of rural students, teachers, and schools. He is the former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Applied Youth Studies (2019-2022, Springer). Prof. Cuervo is the current co-editor of the book series 'Perspective on Children and Young People' (Springer) and Associate Editor of The Australian Educational Researcher and the Australian and International Journal of Rural Education. He sits in the Editorial Board of the Journal for Research in Rural Education, YOUNG, and Revista Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Ninez y Juventud. His latest authored and co-edited books are: 'Understanding Social Justice in Rural Education (Palgrave); 'Youth, Inequality and Social Change in the Global South' (co-editor - Springer); and 'Thinking about Belonging in Youth Studies' (co-author - Palgrave).

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Published

06-03-2026

How to Cite

Cuervo, H., Ii, Y., & Aoki, M. (2026). A rural education summer school: Unpacking the right to be rural. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 36(1), 228–236. https://doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v36i1.870

Issue

Vol. 36 No. 1 (2026): What's Rural About Rural Education Research

Section

RURAL CONNECTIONS: CELEBRATING SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Hernan Cuervo, Yoshihito Ii, Maiko Aoki

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