Rural Education: How Successful Low-Income Students Received Socio-Educational Supports from Families, School Teachers and Peers?

Abstract

The current study explored how socio-economic problems affected rural students academic achievement and also examined how successful rural students from low-income families received socio-cultural supports from their parents, teachers and peers. The study utilised a multi-site case study involving five successful rural students from low-income families in Malaysia who have been selected using purposive random sampling technique. An interview protocol containing semi-structured questions was used to collect narrative data. Data collected was analysed using thematic approach. Results revealed that socio-economic problems have affected affected students’ motivation and emotion. Results also revealed that the parents of all informants had good attitudes in supporting their children education even though they had financial limitation. This highlights the importance of parental survival skills and psychological stability for promoting children academic well-being. The current study also has confirmed that socio-cultural factors play significant roles to support learning for rural students. As helping skills among rural parents, teachers and rural peers are significance for students’ success; a specific community educational module need to be developed as a guideline for them to enhance their roles in providing educational support effectively.