Hornsteinn í heimabyggð : viðhorf foreldra til fjarnáms á framhaldsskólastigi í eigin byggðarlagi

Abstract

Í ritgerðinni eru kynntar niðurstöður eigindlegrar rannsóknar á viðhorfi fólks til menntunarmála á landsbyggðinni. Ætlunin með rannsókninni er að gefa hugmynd um stöðu mála hvað varðar framhaldsskólamenntun í þeim sveitarfélögum sem ekki hafa framhaldsskóla í nánasta umhverfi og veita upplýsingar um hvort skipulagt fjarnám fyrstu tvö ár framhaldsskólans sé í þeirra hugum ákjósanlegur kostur. Notuð var rannsókn í formi rýnihópa. Þrír sex manna hópar í þremur mismunandi sveitarfélögum voru fengnir til að tjá sig um efnið. Allir voru þátttakendur búsettir innan við¬komandi sveitarfélags. Ef marka má skoðanir rýnihópanna þriggja voru helstu niðurstöður rannsóknarinnar þær að þátttakendur báru almennt kvíða í brjósti varðandi það að senda börn sín frá sér til framhaldsnáms í fyrsta sinn. Snérust áhyggjurnar fyrst og fremst að því hvernig barninu reiddi af á nýjum vettvangi án aðhalds foreldra. Auk þessa krefst framhaldsskólanám fjarri heimabyggð töluverðra útgjalda og virðist sem svo að framhaldsskólamenntun barna líði oft á tíðum, á mismunandi hátt, fyrir efnahag foreldraÍ könnuninni kom þó bersýnilega í ljós að þátttakendur vilja almennt að börn sín fari til framhaldsnáms vegna þeirra lífsgæða sem foreldrar telja börn sín hljóta með aukinni menntun. Almennt voru þátttakendur nokkuð á einu máli hvað varðar þá hugmynd að fá framhaldsskólaútibú í heimabyggð. Þátttakendur vildu þjónustuna en vildu ekki hafa hana á neinu tilraunastigi þegar þeirra börn nytu hennar.

Quality of services is a key factor in people decision of where to live. Factors such as, possible income, the quality of education and health care, good environment, quality and prices in shops, level of cultural activity etc. play important role in people decision making of where they want to live and raise their children. The rural areas have been hard hit with population decline over the years. The capital area has much more to offer when it comes to services and therefore it can be assumed that those factors play a vital role in the ongoing population shift from the rural areas to the larger towns and the capital. The aim of this dissertation is to advance our understanding of peoples perspective in the rural areas on education in the area. The purpose of the research is to give an idea of educational opportunities at secondary education level (A level for 16–18 years old) , in areas which only have schools for compulsory education. It is also intended to give some information if a Distance learning for this education level, is a feasible option in parents mind for young people living in those areas.The research was conducted by using Focus-groups. Three groups of six people each were formed. One Focus group was formed for each of the three Municipalities. Every one of the six people in the group was living in the Municipalities. All participants in the research groups agreed that it was a difficult to send the child away for further education. The main worries centralized about how the child would manage in a new place without the support of its parents. Education far from home is also more expensive, and it seems, that sometimes, it plays a part in the decision wheter or not to send the child away for further education. However in the research it was clear that all of the participants wanted their children to get further education, mainly for the possible advantage they would gain for the future.Generally the participants agreed in that the idea of Distance learning centre in the Municipality for further education up to A levels (16–18 years old), was a good one. They however did not want the Distance learning centre to be on some experimental level. It had to be a proper learning centre that was acknowledged by educational authorities just as any regular school.