Beyond the rural deficit: a critical documentary review of teacher retention and educational justice
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62452/cx71c264Keywords:
Rural education, teacher retention, educational justice, rural-urban gapsAbstract
The concept of rural education has often been approached through deficit-based discourses focused on scarcity, marginalization, and institutional weakness. Although these conditions are objectively relevant, such perspectives may oversimplify the complexity of rural schooling and obscure the structural, territorial, and political factors that determine educational opportunities. This article presents a critical literature review of research on teacher retention and educational equity in rural education, with a special emphasis on the Colombian context. The review draws on international, Latin American, and Colombian literature published between 2015 and 2025. Methodologically, the study is based on a qualitative literature review. The selected studies were analyzed through a thematic and categorical reading, which allowed for the identification of four main analytical dimensions: material conditions as structural determinants of educational processes; teacher training and contextualized teaching; inclusion and equity in relation to the gaps between rural and urban areas; and teacher retention linked to psychosocial well-being and community agency. The analysis shows that teacher retention in rural schools is influenced by regional inequality, poor infrastructure, limited access to professional development, weak institutional support, and the persistence of policy frameworks focused on urban areas. The article argues that teacher retention should not be viewed as an isolated administrative issue, but rather as a central dimension of educational justice. To strengthen rural education, it is necessary to move beyond deficit-oriented discourse and promote policies and pedagogical approaches based on territorial recognition, sustained public investment, and meaningful support for teachers and communities.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Karen Alejandra Castro-Jiménez, Adriana Del Carmen Mora-Villarruel, Zharick Dayanna Caita-Mendoza, Blanca Lucia Cely-Betancourt, Adrian Abreus-González (Autor/a)
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