RURALITY AS A CRITICAL FACTOR IN VULNERABLE SCHOOL CONTEXTS IN LATIN AMERICA

Abstract

The essay addresses rural education in Latin America as a critical space where structural inequality, cultural diversity, and the pursuit of educational justice converge. Its objective is to analyze, from a comprehensive and argumentative perspective, the historical, pedagogical, and epistemological foundations that define rurality as a territory of knowledge production and social transformation. The theoretical approach draws on the contributions of authors such as de Almeida Pacheco (2022), Galván Mora (2020), Jaramillo Neira (2025), Souza (2022), and Ramírez Rincón (2024), who agree on the need to build situated, critical, and intercultural pedagogies that recognize the plurality of Latin American ruralities. The regional context reveals a historical debt: rural schools continue to be affected by the urban–rural divide, resource scarcity, rigid curricula, and the lack of cultural relevance in educational policies. Nevertheless, innovative pedagogical experiences—such as alternating education, community-based research, and contextualized curricula—demonstrate the transformative potential of rural communities when education is rooted in the territory. The central thesis argues that only a decolonial, participatory, and contextual pedagogy can ensure inclusive rural education, capable of strengthening identity, equity, and the sustainability of rural Latin America. In its final reflection, the essay concludes that rethinking rural education is not an act of adaptation but one of emancipation—a moral and political commitment to diversity, dignity, and social justice.