In this project rural lives, living conditions, and work lives are the interests for an analysis of the intertwinement of private life (Smart 2007), education and working life. The project started in deep interviews with twelve informants leading rural lives. The interviews resulted in the findings that rural lives are created through creative pathways to make the rural life possible. Counselors in school seems to have a low impact for our informants when they choose a rural life. Rather they mention family ties, responsibilities and emotional bonds to “their place” as reasons for living rural lives.
The continuation of this project will focus on education for rural work through the natural resource use program. We will make shadowing studies (Czarniawka 2007) following teachers, other school personnel and students. The study will investigate how living a rural life is made possible through an education directed at “living off the land”. The study will search for a rural literacy for students, study counselors and teachers as a possible result of the study.
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