Teaching materials for rural schools: challenges and practical considerations from an international perspective

The lack of attention to teaching resources adapted to multigrade classrooms in rural schools is an issue that is beginning to be explored in international research. The invisibility of the school located in rural territories still persists in some fields of study, despite the fact that it represents an important part of the global educational ecosystem. An example of this is the still scarce editorial production and the lack of dissemination of teaching materials that support the classroom methodologies adopted and that also consider the rural school model, considering the diversity of ages and levels of the multigrade classroom and the characteristics of the territory. Along these lines, the aim of this article is to find out more about some of the challenges or problems related to the use and development of teaching materials in the multigrade classroom in order to formulate recommendations based on the needs detected in the information obtained. To address this issue, 32 semi-structured interviews and 4 focus groups were conducted with a total of 47 purposely selected key informants. The data collected were analysed using the grounded theory method with the help of the Atlas Ti software. The results identify barriers and opportunities, mainly associated with the attitude of teachers and their mastery of specific professional competences as well as the revision of teacher training plans. They also highlight the importance of disseminating specific curricular materials, outlining their development and analysis guidelines, influencing pedagogical leadership in schools, and promoting specific actions to support teachers.