Photo: UBCO

Jan Unwin (left), participates in a maker demonstration at UBC’s Small Schools Think Tank.

UBC Okanagan is looking for way to allow rural and small schools to remain relevant.

The university's Faculty of Education recently hosted a two-day, Small School Think Tank, which brought educators together in an effort to find a way forward for rural community schools.

“When we look at what rural and small secondary schools offer the province, we see examples of innovation, creativity, and community partnership,” said Leyton Schnellert, co-chair of the B.C. rural education advisory committee and assistant professor of education at UBC’s Okanagan campus.

“Events like the SSTT hold the potential to affirm and strengthen powerful local practices and structures and inspire schools in B.C. to generate their own creative solutions.”

The think tank offered educators from around the province an opportunity to collaborate and envision a successful future for rural schools.

“The SSTT epitomizes the agenda of the new K to 12 curriculum,” said Jan Unwin, superintendent of graduation and student transitions with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Advanced Education.

“Rural schools exemplify good teaching because teachers are able to form close bonds with students. Engagement is something that we would like to highlight in the new curriculum.”

Solutions emerging from the think tank include inviting community members into the schools to see the new ways of learning, while supporting students’ unique interests in grades 10, 11, and 12, so they continue to be interested in their education.

Since 2002, there have been more than 250 school closures in British Columbia, many of them in rural areas.