RURAL PHYSICAL EDUCATION: BETWEEN STRUCTURAL INEQUALITIES AND PEDAGOGICAL OPPORTUNITIES TO TRANSFORM REALITIES

Abstract

This scientific essay analyzes the particularities of physical education in rural school contexts, highlighting its structural challenges, as well as its pedagogical potential and the transformative role of the teacher in this area, all according to a critical review of the academic literature published in the last five years, which includes articles from journals indexed in recognized databases such as Scopus, Latindex, Dialnet and Scielo, which guarantees the quality and relevance of the sources consulted, from all of which it is possible to appreciate deep inequalities between rural and urban areas, especially in terms of access to infrastructure, connectivity, teacher training, curricular relevance, which in general shows how these conditions affect the right to quality education in the countryside, but at the same time, highlighting that physical education can become an excellent educational tool when it is adapted to the environment, that is, when it manages to integrate local knowledge, in addition to taking advantage of the available natural resources. Hence, the figure of the rural teacher is fundamental mainly in terms of their active, resourceful role, sensitive to the community context. Based on this, it can be concluded that physical education in rural areas, far from replicating standardized urban models, should be oriented toward a situated, equitable, and transformative pedagogy that recognizes territorial diversity as an educational strength and positions teachers as key agents for justice, but also for sustainable local development.