The impact of the territory in education. The case of the rural school in France

Résumé

At the end of the twentieth century, it was realized in France that even though less intensely than
social and cultural origins, spatial and territorial dimensions influenced education, especially in
rural and mountainous regions. Numerous specific territorial impacts could be seen. These specific
impacts were principally involved with scholastic results and orientation, but also including the
organisation of establishments, pedagogical work-ups and teaching materials. However, other
multiple and systemic territorial influences on schooling have been noted: the territorial effects.
Taking the results from empirical, studies about different isolated French rural and mountainous
regions, the article shows the different types of territorial impacts influencing schools. Then, it
shows several theoretical elements by analyzing the different types of methodology and the
characteristics of territorial influences on education.