STEAM Education Using Natural Resources in Rural Areas: Case Study of a Grouped Rural School in Avila, Spain

Abstract

Rural Spain has strengths but also presents notable problems. Education is a necessary way to improve rural communities. A better educated population will ensure they do not disappear and enhance their quality of life. This article explores the educational potential of rural Spain by focusing on a practical case study at the Grouped Rural School (CRA) Las Cogotas in Ávila, Castilla and León. It highlights the strengths and challenges of rural areas, including depopulation, aging, and lack of services, and emphasizes the importance of education in addressing these issues. The study implements STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education through outdoor activities, utilizing local rural and natural resources to enhance students’ learning experiences and foster environmental stewardship. The methodology includes structured interviews and a Likert scale survey analyzed with the ATLAS.ti tool to evaluate the effectiveness of the activities. The results indicate that students developed a stronger connection to their environment and showed increased interest in STEAM subjects. The findings underscore the value of integrating rural resources into formal education to improve the quality of life and sustainability of rural communities. The article aims to highlight the educational resources that rural areas offer to develop STEAM education.

1. Introduction

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 promotes quality education for all people on the planet and should be seen as the basis of action for change to improve societies [1]. Teachers collaborating across different subjects and areas can carry out educational projects in a “connected” way, integrating all the knowledge necessary to train people in various disciplines from a holistic perspective, allowing them to face today’s world challenges. In recent years, the term STEM (Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Math) has gained prominence in the international scene of scientific–technological education, monopolizing a good part of the research in science teaching [2,3,4]. Developed in the USA in the 1990s, this approach promotes interdisciplinary science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. The rapid development of STEM disciplines has shown that education in these areas is a key component of the 21st century [5,6]. In the USA, starting in 2010, this type of education gained importance when it appeared in its educational laws through the “Educate to Innovate” campaign in favor of excellence in teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [7]. This is due to the increased emphasis placed on it by the National Science Foundation (NSF), federal funding of STEM legislation, and the implementation of nationally developed content standards in almost all school subjects [8]. We must highlight programs carried out related to this type of education in other countries, such as STEM Education for Sustainable Development (STEM4SD Education). As explained by Pahnke et al. [9], STEM Education for Sustainable Development encourages children and young people to leverage their STEM competencies and the process of science as a key basis for action to improve our world.

When we add Arts (A) in the term STEM, we promote more holistic and complete education and learning by students [10]. Santillán et al. [11] stated that the active STEAM methodology promotes students’ meaningful, holistic, and contextualized learning. This expansion of the disciplinary range by introducing the Arts is considered a significant advance, stating that focusing on STEM without the “Arts” excludes important areas that inform and contextualize science [12].

STEM, and especially STEAM, can be considered manifestations of educational movements born in the last century to emphasize global thinking and the need to analyze our world from a complex perspective [13]. Today, some academics discuss a “paradigm shift” in science and, more generally, in understanding the world and human beings. We can call it “holism” or “integralism”: an overall focused approach. As stated by Sanchez and Rodelo [14], STEAM education has been one way to naturally integrate inter- and transdisciplinary knowledge to solve social problems in schools, combined with active methodologies.

The benefits of STEAM education mainly impact students’ cognitive dimension, although affective and behavioral benefits have also been identified [15]. Authors such as Santillán et al. [11] and Yakman [16] stated that the STEAM methodology contributes to developing an educational model that helps to overcome fragmented bridges. To develop this approach, actors must commit to promoting the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that contribute to better performance in any aspect of their lives, both professional and personal [17]. When talking about terms like “affective” and “personal”, we must remember that Rousseau was the first to draw attention to the importance of the education of feelings [18]. At this point, we must visualize the importance of the development of STEAM education in rural areas to awaken students’ sensitivity to the environment surrounding them.

Silva and Alsina [19] stated: “In recent years, interest has increased in responding to the contemporary world’s social, environmental, and economic crises. To this end, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and STEAM Education have been promoted as strategies to face the problems. However, new approaches of an interdisciplinary nature have received little or no attention in rural contexts”.

The rural environment offers a range of resources to develop STEAM education and a unique outdoor classroom. According to Martínez and Molina [20], “Outdoor Education” (OE) can be defined as learning through the body and the senses, in interaction with others, through direct experiences in nature. Outdoor learning can be supported by Vygotsky’s theory of sociocultural learning [21], which establishes that children internalize meanings through social interaction in spaces of meaningful communication. That is, they build meaning from their sociocultural environment [22]. The educational method of María Montessori, which complements pedagogies such as that of Fröebel, establishes a structure for learning that integrates the environment, love, and the child’s environment [21].

According to Buffington of the Education Development Center (EDC): “All students have the right to a high-quality STEM education, and we want to take advantage of the natural and human resources available to us in these rural communities to make that happen” [23]. De Piper, a member of the EDC, expressed: “Rural children have a connection, a passion for the place where they grow up, and… they can become the best advocates we have to protect our coasts, our forests, our mountains because they will think: “That’s where I grew up”” [23]. STEM and STEAM education offers an opportunity to create links between students and their environment, living beings, and habitats, reflecting on a series of actions and acts in adulthood [24].

According to the above, quality education must happen in rural areas to ensure these people can make the best decisions. These decisions can include remaining in rural areas as trained people and working in those places to fight against rural depopulation and the end of towns.

According to Gavari et al. [25], four fundamental factors establish the population in rural areas: education, health, technology, and employment. Education is essential for improving societies, including rural zones with their specific characteristics. Education supports students in developing the skills that will allow them to become the architects of their own lives and collaborate with others to improve their communities [26]. This reflection highlights the importance of education in rural areas for improving the lives of their inhabitants and its involvement in improving the rural world, including its countryside and heritage.

Quality education involves working on the sustainable development of rural areas. González [27] stated that sustainable development must be transferred to the educational field, scientific research, and the legislative agenda to ensure social, environmental, economic, political, and cultural conditions that allow generations to enjoy the right to a dignified life. A decent life must exist in all rural areas, and their inhabitants must be able to live by bridging all existing gaps with the urban environment; they must also benefit from living in a natural and rural environment. As Almendros said [28]: “A human group in the countryside, no matter how small, is a living organism woven of links and motives of social life”. This allows us to remember the countryside’s heritage, life, culture, and wealth, which can and should be used in rural education. The rural environment of the countryside has endless natural resources that allow for the development of education in rural areas.

This article aims to value the resources offered by the rural environment and its strengths through a case study of the activity developed at the Grouped Rural School (CRA in Spanish) Las Cogotas to awaken students’ sensitivity towards their environment and observe the value of those resources for their education. It is argued that by working with these resources, effective education is fostered within the environment in which they live. Bastidas et al. [29] stated that affective education can positively affect mental health and general well-being. According to González [30], affective–emotional education is a continuous and permanent educational process that aims to enhance emotional development as a complement to cognitive development to enable the development of the integral personality. Using these rural and natural educational resources creates emotional and affective links between the student and the environment that will manifest themselves in the present and the future.

1.1. Problems and Strengths of Rural Spain

According to some projections for 2050, 66% of the world’s population is expected to be urban, and in 2100, this will reach 80% [31], which suggests an increasingly urbanized and less rural world. In Europe, the rural regions of the European Union (EU) cover 44.6% of the EU and are home to 93.1 million people (20.8% of the total EU population). In Spain, most of the population lives in urban areas. As Rubio and Pascual [32] explained, rural areas have received less and less academic attention because habitat is no longer a variable that defines lifestyle. In Spain, around a third of the country’s inhabitants now live in the 52 provincial capitals, whose populations have multiplied almost five times since the beginning of the last century [33]. Provincial heterogeneity in urbanization and ruralization is high [34]. According to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, Spain could gain more than five million inhabitants in the next 15 years and almost six million in 2074 if the current demographic trends are maintained. The percentage of the population aged 65 and over, currently 20.4%, will reach a maximum of 30.5% around 2055. The autonomous communities with the highest populations registered in rural municipalities, ranging from 30% to 50%, are Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla and León, and Aragón. More than 7.5 million people are in rural areas in Spain, and 78% of Spanish municipalities have less than 5000 inhabitants [35].

There are gender differences amongst the people who live in rural Spanish areas. The rural exodus continues to be predominantly female, which causes the masculinization of the working-age population. In Spain’s rural areas, there are 111.7 men for every 100 women between the ages of 30 and 49 [35]. As stated in the “Strategy for Rural Women in the Agricultural and Agri-food Fields” [36], to ensure that women are not forced to abandon their environment, it is necessary to cover two basic needs: access to basic services and professional development possibilities. Here, the importance of education is already perceived as a key factor in promoting female professional development.

In Spain, the employment rate of the population aged 15 years or older in rural areas is 44.5%, which is lower than that of urban areas [35]. This point is very important for maintaining rural areas since the rural population must have access to employment to live adequately, meet daily expenses, and live fairly. According to Spain’s CAP Strategic Plan [37], in Spain, rural areas have worse employment and unemployment rates than cities, which discourages the workforce from remaining in rural areas, especially among groups of women and young people. However, this has a worrying background: it is increasingly common for young people, even if they want to stay in a rural area, to abandon it due to a lack of opportunities. Moreover, women are concentrated in the lowest positions in the labor hierarchy and the tertiary sector.

Poor conservation of rural, natural, historical, and cultural heritage is observed in rural Spain. However, preserving and caring for this heritage is an opportunity for towns to thrive and endure. As Porcal [38] explains, a broad vision of rural heritage as a tourist resource and driver of sustainable development has helped to progressively raise awareness of the historical heritage value of the countryside. Emptied Spain, a term encompassing rural areas with a low population density, faces a particular challenge in safeguarding its cultural heritage [39]. However, safeguarding is a challenging task since, for it to occur, we must value the broad rural heritage concept. The residents of these places oversee the protection and custody of the local heritage, in addition to being the guardians of the living memory of the town [39]. Rural areas’ heritage is vast, from the architectural assets to the natural features, and we must remember the importance of rural landscapes. Romero et al. [40] talked about how to contribute to the improvement of the physical environment and the conservation and protection of the natural and cultural heritage, thereby elevating the quality of life of the locals.

Currently, rural areas offer low value in forest resources, and there needs to be more specific training in certain categories of qualified personnel to manage these forest resources. Forests, among other things, have provided rural populations with invaluable resources for generations, offering food and fruits, wood, soil, and physical and emotional well-being. Focusing on Castilla and León, 31% of the land is forested, representing 1/6 of the national forest stock [41].

According to the Strategic Health and Environment Plan, 2022–2026 [42], the interdependent relationship between the environment and the population’s health is increasingly relevant. In the same way that human activity modifies the characteristics of the environment, environmental factors influence human health. From this, we can deduce the importance of the rural environment for living more healthily.

We must emphasize the importance of the rural environment for human life. There is still time to work on defending rural towns, fostering admiration, appreciation, and the use of their strengths to improve their problems. Knowing what is local allows us to take advantage of everything that we see as usable for the improvement of rural society itself because, as Pérez and Giménez [43] stated, we must not forget that territorial inequalities can be more harmful than other forms of inequality. Rural areas have endless strengths that must be valued, such as rural, agricultural, natural, and forest environments that bring many benefits in many aspects, which we could present as vital benefits for those who live there. The rural environment also presents other benefits, such as affective–environmental and educational benefits.

1.2. Education as a Way to Improve the Problems of Rural Spain

Rural education in Spain is marked by the emigration of people who went from the countryside to cities in the 20th century, starting in the 1950s and 1960s. This has caused the quality of education to be considered inferior in rural areas, causing lower levels of competition among students compared to urban students, which has also occurred in numerous countries in the European Union [44]. As Gil et al. [45] argue, rural schools have been marginalized throughout history, especially in terms of the quality of their education, but they deserve the same social and economic treatment as urban schools. We must not forget that village schools are much more than an educational institution since they unify rural society [46].

“Rural education” refers to the different forms and experiences through which schools have been established in rural areas. It has often not been a specific project for rural areas [46]. Improving rural schools requires re-evaluating rural communities to ensure that the centers have the necessary resources [46]. This is where it is worth asking if rural areas are different from urban areas and if activities should not be carried out in rural schools, considering the uniqueness of the rural environment and taking advantage of all the value of rural Spain’s strengths using its resources.

Something starkly different in rural schools compared to city schools is the appearance of so-called unitary schools, operating in Spain since the first advance in schooling with the Moyano Law in 1858 until the General Education Law of 1970 [47]. A unitary school constitutes a unique space where male and female students from various courses or curricular levels learn together simultaneously [48]. Unitary schools are very present in the towns of rural Spain, which is an advantage, as reflected in the study carried out by Hamodi [49].

STEAM Education for the Improvement of Rural Spain

In Spain, in the Education Law (LOMLOE) [50], one of the eight existing competencies is called Mathematics and Science and Technology competency. This STEM competency involves understanding the world using scientific methods, mathematical thinking, representation, technology, and techniques of engineering to transform the environment in a committed, responsible, and sustainable way. We highlight the term “responsible”, as fostering this type of education in rural areas can awaken students’ respect and care for the environment, ensuring their sustainability and helping to realize the importance of responsible actions.

Among other examples of STEAM education in Spain, we can mention the one currently developed in the Canary Islands, an initiative of the Department of Education, Universities, Culture, and Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands and in collaboration with Aula 3i and Aula STEAM, called “STEAM Laboratory in the rural classroom” [51]. This is a project focused on promoting STEAM education in rural areas, working to reduce the gap in science and technology that affects this environment and promote quality, equity, equality, and inclusion for students and teachers of Collectives of Rural Schools (CER), located in rural or difficult-to-access environments. Another educational initiative of the STEAM Alliance (STEAM Alliance for Female Talent) is that of the ASTI Foundation, called Ruralbotic [52]. This is a program aimed at rural centers to provide students with tools to build their future and that of the areas where they reside, combating depopulation.

2. Objectives and Methods

This research is based on a case study of an activity conducted at the CRA Las Cogotas. The primary objective of the activity was to emphasize the value of the rural environment and the diverse educational resources it provides, which can and should be integrated into formal education. The study seeks to address whether education is a fundamental tool for strengthening rural communities by examining the educational potential of rural Spain. In addition to the primary objective, the following secondary objectives have been set:

• Engage students in caring for the environment and nature, empowering them to be responsible stewards of our planet.
• Work to care for the environment, the countryside, and the rural environment.
• Work on sustainable development.
• Work on caring for the three Rs: reduce, reuse, and recycle.
• Awaken scientific curiosity in students.
• Awaken sensitivity in students by using local rural and natural resources to create links to their environment.
• Implement a holistic approach by integrating all the previous points through STEAM education, demonstrating the interconnectedness of these objectives.

The activity was developed over two sessions in the Gotarrendura and Villanueva de Gómez municipalities. It was aimed at students of different ages, with a methodology adapted to each group. The sessions were conducted in the municipalities’ usual classrooms, and the outdoor classroom was created using a participatory method for students, notably working on cooperative work.

This case study collects the results of a mixed investigation using qualitative and quantitative methods. To this end, structured interviews were analyzed using the ATLAS qualitative analysis tool. The software facilitated the coding and categorization of the data, allowing for the identification of key themes and patterns. The analysis focused on students’ descriptions of their experiences, perceived benefits, and suggestions for improvement. A survey was developed using a Likert scale with four items for the quantitative analysis to obtain data on the students’ perceptions and interactions with their environment. Responses from the Likert scale survey were analyzed using statistical methods to identify trends and correlations. Descriptive statistics, such as mean and standard deviation, were calculated for each survey item. In addition, correlation analysis was conducted to explore the relationships between different survey items and students’ preferences for outdoor learning. Data from interviews, surveys, and observations were triangulated to enhance the validity of the findings. This process involved comparing and cross-verifying information from different sources to draw consistent and reliable conclusions.

This data collection and analysis aims to understand and develop STEAM education in rural environments.

2.1. Case Study in STEAM Education Outside the Classroom in the CEIP CRA Las Cogotas of Castilla and León

The activity that is the subject of the case study took place in the classrooms of the CEIP (Early Childhood and Primary School) CRA Las Cogotas in the municipalities of Cardeñosa, Las Berlanas, Gotarrendura, and Villanueva de Gómez in the province of Avila. During the 2023–2024 academic year, the student distribution in rural schools was as follows: in Cardeñosa, there were seven students from 1st to 6th grade of Primary; in Las Berlanas, there were 25 students distributed in three classrooms teaching Early Childhood and 3rd to 6th grade of Primary; Gotarrendura had seven students, ranging from 3 years old to 6th grade of Primary in a single classroom; and Villanueva de Gómez had 11 students, ranging from 5 years old to 6th grade of Primary. The activity occurred in May, during the flowering time of many native plants of those areas, such as Papaver rhoeas (poppy) or the yellow flower Brassica napus. In addition, a time was sought in which the weather was favorable and pleasant to carry out these sessions outdoors optimally.

Avila, the province where this research was carried out, is located south of Castilla and Leon. It has an area of about 8050 km² and a population of 161,898 inhabitants [53]. Of the 278 municipalities of Ávila, 101 towns had less than 100 inhabitants in 2023, 74 municipalities had between 101 and 250 inhabitants, 35 had between 251 and 500 inhabitants, 19 had between 501 and 1000 inhabitants, 13 had between 1001 and 5000 inhabitants, and 5 municipalities had more than 5000 inhabitants, including the capital of the province, Ávila, with 57,741 inhabitants; Arévalo with 7768 inhabitants; Arenas de San Pedro with 6464 inhabitants; Las Navas del Marqués with 5362 inhabitants; and Candeleda with 5001 inhabitants [53]. In Figure 1, we can see the population percentage distribution in the province of Avila.

From these data, we concluded that the province of Avila is characterized by being rural, with municipalities with few inhabitants. Furthermore, Martínez and Molina [20] defined the city of Avila as an average city in the context of Castilla and Leon, defining the urban fabric compared to the rest of the country as fragile, weak, and lax, reinforcing the rural image of the community and large empty and unconnected spaces.

The four municipalities where outdoor STEAM education was developed have the following populations: 167 inhabitants in Gotarrendura, 326 in Las Berlanas, 115 in Villanueva de Gómez, and 419 in Cardeñosa [53]. Figure 2 reflects the situation of the municipalities above in the province of Avila.

These towns can be quite an experience for an educator or a trainer. Using STEAM education with rural and natural educational resources can be interesting, awakening students’ knowledge, interest, and sensitivity towards the resources they are using, which are specific to those municipalities.

2.2. Development of the Sessions

At the beginning of the sessions, the outdoor activity was explained to the students, and they were instructed to use magnifying glasses. During the outdoor activity, students picked wild and native plants and observed rocks and other animals to awaken their scientific curiosity. The students were organized into teams, collected plants, and observed the diversity of the place. Since it was the month of May, the students were able to collect plants by coloring them, placing them in plastic bags, and working on the A of STEAM.

In the classroom, the teams were given transparent cups to pour water, food coloring, and the collected plants, making floral art creations and working again on the A of STEAM. In addition, the fabric staining process in the floral art activity was explained. It was presented to the students how plants live and their cycles during the day and night. During the session, the importance of plants for humans and life was explained to them using a thought-provoking presentation. An experiment was carried out with plastic bags. Water was introduced into the bags, which were pierced with pens, and they observed that the water did not come out. The activity consisted of explaining why this was happening. Subsequently, they talked about the plastic bags they had put the plants in to take them to the center for the experiment and their polluting effects, working on the three Rs (reuse, reduce, and recycle) and caring for the environment, nature, and sustainable development.

Once the activity was completed, students were invited to reflect by participating in structured interviews, and a survey was carried out in two of the municipalities to obtain representative results. The ATLAS.ti interview analysis tool was used for structured interviews. A Likert scale with four items was used for the survey to evaluate the pedagogical content and strategies used in the activities.

The structured interviews had the following questions:

• What is the name of the town where your school is located?
• How old are you, and what course are you studying?
• Do you like your town, and what do you like most about your town?
• What would you think about learning school subjects outdoors?
• What school subjects would you like to learn outdoors in your town?
• What do you think your town has that could be used for outdoor study?
• Why do you like to learn several subjects simultaneously at your school?
• What did you like most about what you did in the session when teacher Patricia came to your school?
• What did you like most about what you learned about the plants of your town in that session?
• How would you always like to care for your town so it is beautiful and well cared for?
• What can you do in your town so it is always beautiful and cared for?

3. Results

3.1. Interview Results

All students participated in the sessions, and five students were chosen by the tutors of each municipality, while 10 students responded to the semi-structured interviews to develop the qualitative research of the study and to the surveys to carry out the quantitative research of the study. The interviews from both municipalities were analyzed using ATLAS.ti to conduct a global evaluation. As we can see in Figure 3, seven students responded affirmatively to the question, “Do you like your town, and what do you like most about your town?”. We must highlight that for the question, “What do you think your town has that could be used for outdoor study?”, eight students mentioned educational resources that could be used outdoors, and nine expressed a desire for at least one subject to be taught outdoors. Answering the questions, “What would you think about learning school subjects outdoors?” and “What school subjects would you like to learn outdoors in your town?”, there were 20 positive answers. Regarding the questions, “What did you like most about what you did in the session when teacher Patricia came to your school?” and “What did you like most about what you learned about the plants of your town in that session?”, we observed that 100% of the students interviewed liked using the specific rural educational resources for the session developed. Six students responded affirmatively to enjoying learning several subjects at the same time.

3.1.1. About Accepting Material That Awakens Curiosity, Scientific Interest, and Learning Through Experience

In Gotarrendura, two 6th-grade Primary School students agreed on the question, “What did you like most about what you learned about the plants of your town in that session?”, with one responding, “See the parts of the plant with the magnifying glasses”, and the other responding, “The magnifying glass”. The fact that two students from the most advanced Primary grade mentioned the appeal of the magnifying glass is noteworthy, since the reason for using this tool was to awaken scientific curiosity. Another response from a 4th-grade student to the same question was similar, mentioning “the magnifying glass, the plants”. Another 5th-grade Primary student referred to the magnifying glass in response to the question, “What did you like most about what you did in the session when teacher Patricia came to your school?”, answering, “What I liked most was when we went to get flowers with the magnifying glass”. Another 3rd-grade student also responded to this question with, “Use the magnifying glass”. Therefore, we can affirm that, coincidentally, 100% of the students interviewed, belonging to different grades and ages, liked the magnifying glass most in the session. This fact is worth highlighting because we observed the students’ acceptance of using material that awakens their interest and scientific knowledge.

In Villanueva de Gómez, in response to the question, “What did you like most about what you learned about the plants of your town in that session?”, a 6th-grade student answered, “Sow the plants”, while another 6th-grade student responded, “The experiment of sticking pens in a bag of water”. One 5th-grade student responded, “Picking the flowers”; another 5th-grade student said, “I liked when we look at the flowers and plants in the field”; and a 3rd-grade student responded, “Use the magnifying glass”. From these answers, we can determine the importance of the magnifying glass and the experiment for the children. Based on the responses “Pick the flowers” and “I like it when we look at the flowers and plants in the field”, we can see that the children enjoyed observing the flowers and plants in the rural fields and picking them.

Regarding the question, “What did you like most about what you did in the session when teacher Patricia came to your school?”, a 6th-grade student responded, “To sow the plants”, and another 6th-grade student said, “How it happens the sap of the flower”. A 5th-grade student responded, “The experiment”, another 5th-grade student answered, “When we looked at the daisies”, and a 3rd-grade student responded, “Seeing the plants with the magnifying glass”. These answers underline the importance of the magnifying glass and the experiment. We also highlight the answer that refers to looking at and observing certain flowers present in rural areas.

3.1.2. About the Affective and Emotional Bond with the Town

In Gotarrendura, to the question, “Do you like your town, and what do you like most about your town?”, a 6th-grade student responded, “Yes, I like it, and what I like most is the town’s annual celebration”. Another 6th-grade student responded, “Some things, my house and the track”. A 4th-grade student responded, “My house”, and another responded, “Yes, I like it, and what I like most is being able to go out alone on the street”. A 3rd-grade student responded, “I think it’s fun…”. In these responses, we see an attachment of the children to their town. None of the children felt rejected by their village; they liked their town and felt linked to their house, enjoying urban elements such as a track and cultural elements such as municipal festivals. One answer alluded to the tranquility in rural areas, closeness, empathy, and neighbors as family, and it was expressed in the response of the child who emphasized that what he likes most is being able to go out alone on the street. Social relationships are closer and more familiar in rural areas than in urban areas.

In Villanueva de Gómez, to the question, “Do you like your town, and what do you like most about your town?”, a 6th-grade student responded, “Yes, because I play football”, and another 6th-grade student responded, “Yes, I like it; what I like the most is the sports center”. A 5th-grade student responded, “Yes, the sports center”, while another student from the 5th grade responded, “Yes when we do parties”. A 3rd-grade student said, “yes, we like the square”. In these responses, we can see how children are linked to their environment because it is the place in which they live every day, playing games and sports in the sports center or the square. In the answer, “Yes, when we do parties”, we also can see a cultural link.

3.1.3. About Educational Resources for Studying Outdoors

In Gotarrendura, concerning answers to the question, “What things do you think your town has that could be used to study outdoors?”, a 6th-grade student answered, “Animals and plants”; another 6th-grade student said, “I don’t know”; a 4th-grade student answered, “Animals”; a 5th-grade student responded, “Fauna, flora and vegetation”; and a 3rd-grade student answered, “I would like to study…”. All students interviewed mentioned that the town has outdoor resources to study; none of the students responded negatively. To the question, “What would you think about learning school subjects outdoors? What school subjects would you like to learn outdoors in your town?”, a 6th-grade student responded, “I wouldn’t like to do the subjects outside, only Nature”; another 6th-grade student responded, “I think it’s fun if it’s physical education”; a 5th-grade student said, “I would like Nature”; a 4th-grade student responded, “Boring”; and a 3rd-grade student said, “It seemed fun to me”. From these responses, we can see the students would mainly like to study certain subjects outside (Nature/Physical Education). However, contrasting opinions were observed in the boring/fun responses.

In Villanueva de Gómez, concerning answers to the question, “What things do you think your town has that could be used to study outdoors?”, a 6th-grade student responded, “The track”; another 6th-grade student responded, “The benches to sit and learn”; a 5th-grade student responded, “Shade, benches, flowers”; another 5th-grade student responded, “The park, the lake”; and a 3rd-year Primary student answered, “Plants, weather, river”. From these responses, it can be observed that the students see that there are resources that could be used in their learning, including those related to a specific place or situation, such as benches, and those related to flora, such as flowers. They also referred to water resources such as the lake or the park. To the question, “What would you think about learning school subjects outdoors? What school subjects would you like to learn outdoors in your town?”, a 6th-grade student responded, “Good, skating”; another 6th-grade student responded, “Yes, I would like to learn Language and Mathematics outside; it would be good”; a 5th-grade student responded, “Good, all of them”; another 5th-grade student responded, “Good, Mathematics and Language”; and a 3rd-year student responded, “We would love to learn in classes outside, Nature, Mathematics, Language, and Social Science”. From the responses, we can conclude that the children interviewed would like to learn content from outdoor subjects.

3.1.4. About Learning Several Subjects at the Same Time

In Gotarrendura, to the question, “Do you like to learn several subjects simultaneously at your school?”, a 6th-grade student responded, “No because that’s how we’re fine”; another 6th-grade student responded, “Some yes and some no because I like some more than others”; one 4th-grade student responded with the word “Education”; and a 3rd-grade student replied, “Some things because I like some things more than others”. In all these answers, we see the diversity of opinions of the students.

In Villanueva de Gómez, to the question, “Do you like to learn several subjects simultaneously at your school?”, a 6th-grade student responded, “Yes, because what you study is important”; another student from the same grade responded, “Yes, because that way, I only have to study one subject”; a 5th-grade student replied, “No, because I don’t like studying”; another from the same year said, “Yes because learning seems interesting to me”; and a student from the 3rd year responded, “Yes because it is easier to learn”. All of these answers show the diversity of the students’ opinions.

3.1.5. About the Care and Maintenance of the Town

In Gotarrendura, to the questions, “How would you always like to care for your town so it is beautiful and well cared for?” and “What can you do in your town so it is always beautiful and cared for?”, the students responded as follows: a 6th-grade student responded, “Don’t throw garbage” and “Don’t litter”; another 6th-grade student also responded, “Don’t throw garbage on the ground” and “Don’t throw garbage”; a 5th-year Primary student answered the first question with, “Well, cleaning up the sheep’s poop”; and a 3rd-year student said, “Don’t throw garbage on the ground” and “Don’t throw garbage”. These answers highlight the importance to children of not littering in the town.

In Villanueva de Gómez, to the questions, “How would you always like to care for your town so it is beautiful and well cared for?” and “What can you do in your town so it is always beautiful and cared for?”, a 6th-grade student responded, “Not littering” and “Playing football”; another student from the same grade responded, “Planting more trees and plants” and “Cleaning the leaves from the ground so that it is not dirty”; a student from the 5th grade responded, “Recycling” and “No cigarette butts on the ground”; another 5th-grader responded, “Taking care of the plants” and “Taking care and recycling”; and a 3rd-grade student responded, “Laying natural grass, giving electric cars” and “Cleaning up the trash and giving more work for cleaning people”. These responses highlight the importance children place on cleaning, recycling, caring, and not littering. In addition, actions that children see as positive are highlighted, such as planting trees and plants and taking care of plants. In one response, a child mentioned electric cars, which is linked with generating employment so that the town is clean; in another, a child mentioned playing a sport himself, which the child presented as positive.

In addition to the interview results, a correlation analysis was conducted to understand the relationship between the students’ preferences for outdoor learning and their responses about their town and educational resources.

3.2. Survey Results

As stated above, after the activity, an anonymous questionnaire was carried out to analyze some issues and the acceptance of the sessions. A nine-item questionnaire was developed using statements with four possible closed answers: Never, Rarely, Sometimes, and Always. In Figure 4, we can see the results of the survey.

Items:

• I like to be outdoors when I’m sad because I feel better.
• When I learn new things outdoors, I feel happy.
• I like to see plants and animals living in my town in beautiful places without pollution.
• We need plants and animals in our world.
• What we do will influence my town’s environment and surroundings.
• We all must care for nature and the countryside.
• I would like to know more about my town’s plants, rocks and animals.
• I would like my town always to be beautiful and cared for.
• I like to learn many things about my town and in my town.

As shown in the graph in Figure 5, the students’ assessments showed the highest ratings for the statements, “We all must care for nature and the countryside” and “We need plants and animals in our world”. Here, 80% of the students surveyed gave the highest rating of “Always”. From these results, we concluded that the students know about the need to take care of nature and the countryside, that they must and must do it, and that plants and animals are needed in our world.

We observed that the statement most valued after these, with 70% of those surveyed responding “Always”, was, “When I learn new things outdoors, I feel happy”. This statement emphasizes three essential concepts: learning new things, learning outdoors, and feeling happy about it. Here, we can see the connection between learning something new in a unique space, such as the outdoors, and the emotional state that this event causes.

The next statement most valued by the students was, “I would like to know more about the plants, rocks, and animals in my town” (50% of those surveyed), which shows that the students surveyed want to know more about their town’s natural environment. (See

Table 1. Percentage distributions. Source: Own elaboration.

Statement	Never	Rarely	Sometimes	Always
I like to be outdoors when I’m sad because I feel better.	5%	10%	25%	60%
When I learn new things outdoors, I feel happy.	10%	20%	30%	40%
I like to see plants and animals living in my town in beautiful places without pollution.	3%	7%	20%	70%
We need plants and animals in our world.	2%	5%	13%	80%
What we do will influence my town’s environment and surroundings.	8%	15%	25%	52%
We all must care for nature and the countryside.	1%	5%	14%	80%
I would like to know more about my town’s plants, rocks, and animals.	5%	10%	35%	50%
I would like my town always to be beautiful and cared for.	4%	8%	28%	60%
I like to learn many things about my town and in my town.	7%	10%	33%	50%

).

4. Discussion

Depopulation remains a critical issue affecting rural areas, necessitating strategic efforts to encourage well-trained individuals to remain in their villages. According to Rodríguez et al. [54], the challenge of rural depopulation has gained increasing attention when formulating rural policy strategies. However, Spain remains one of the few European Union countries without a specific national plan to address this issue. Education plays a crucial role in strengthening rural communities, which, despite their vulnerabilities, also possess significant assets.

Rural schools differ significantly from their urban counterparts. González et al. [55] argued that rural educational institutions have historically been perceived as pedagogically inadequate and primarily serving socially marginalized students, often avoided by families with greater financial resources. Furthermore, university teacher training programs do not adequately prepare educators for the realities of rural schools. Many new teachers entering these environments encounter multi-grade classrooms for the first time, which they often perceive as a pedagogical challenge rather than an opportunity for innovative teaching [56].

Academic performance in rural schools is influenced by multiple factors, including parental socioeconomic status and the geographical characteristics of the school [44]. According to Ramos et al. [57], the disparities in academic outcomes between rural and urban schools may not stem solely from geographic location but also from differences in student demographics, family backgrounds, and school characteristics.

Family involvement is a key factor in rural education. González et al. [55] highlighted that frequent and fluid communication between families and schools is often seen as a significant strength of rural education. However, some educational institutions report challenges in this relationship, citing either a lack of parental engagement or excessive involvement, which can sometimes be perceived as detrimental. Despite these challenges, one of the greatest assets of rural schools is their unique natural environment. However, rural schools do not always capitalize on their surroundings as an educational resource. Being located in a rural setting does not necessarily translate to an increased emphasis on outdoor learning or the pedagogical use of accessible natural spaces [58].

As stated by Torres et al. [59], the demands of the 21st century require teachers to prepare and assume a reflective attitude to meet the academic expectations of today’s students. Aligning with authors such as Aikenhead, Smith, and Sobel or Estupiñan et al. [60,61,62], we maintain that education must be sensitive to the context in which it is developed to be effective, especially in rural areas, where educational interventions must align with local needs and promote community development. Thus, it is important that the educational laws of the countries work for STEAM education and that they consider rural education as a particular case. The rural environment presents problems but also offers invaluable resources that must be used so that the rural environment lasts and people live better.

In Spain, the LOMLOE [50] includes a single article that addresses the quality of education for all students, without discrimination based on any reasons such as birth, ethnicity, or geographical location. This lead us to reflect that rural education must be of high quality. It also highlights the importance of contributing to environmental, social, and economic sustainability and the acquisition of values that promote respect for living beings and the rights of animals and the environment, particularly the value of forest spaces and sustainable development. We could not find any reference to valuing rural and agricultural spaces in the law. Article 82 includes equal opportunities in rural areas. In Article 9, concerning territorial cooperation programs, the Law states that these programs will prioritize socially disadvantaged rural or urban areas, depopulation or demographic dispersion, and insularity. However, despite Article 110 being aimed at accessibility, sustainability, and relations with the environment, no special mention is made of rural environments.

Finally, Royal Decree 157/2022, of 1 March, establishes the organization and teaching of primary education [63] in Article 9, which includes mathematical competence and competence in science, technology, and engineering as part of STEM education. However, we believe a change is necessary to also include the Arts, moving towards STEAM education.

We must consider the rural environment’s resources as strengths specific to the rural environment as they can be used in formal and informal education. We must remember that education is the main way to improve human beings. Towns have something that cities do not: an unparalleled outdoor classroom. Using this classroom to carry out current and necessary formal education is vital for future rural generations.

It is interesting to use STEAM education to carry out activities in which unique rural resources are valued, using them to acquire knowledge and improve learning. Rural educational resources are present in all types of rural heritage. Using this medium’s traditional heritage resources, STEAM subjects can be introduced to rural girls and boys from an early age, bringing science and other disciplines closer [64].

Rural children form a deep bond with their environment, inspiring them to become passionate advocates for protecting their land. It is a fundamental axis of forming societies more linked to sustainable development and prepared to achieve the 17 objectives of the 2030 Agenda, ensuring that students feel responsible for their daily actions in their towns from an early age. This experience should make us reflect on how to value the educational resources of rural environments with their sustainable wealth from different parts of the world.

5. Conclusions

This article highlights education as a crucial tool for enhancing rural communities. It examined the educational potential of rural Spain through a practical case study at the CRA Las Cogotas. The objective was to showcase the wealth of educational resources available in rural areas for advancing STEAM education, which are abundant worldwide. We observed a strong emotional bond between nature, the countryside, and the towns of the participating students. For this reason, it is argued that existing rural natural resources should be used as a learning tool. We must remember that this case study is based on a small sample, with students from only four rural municipalities. Hence, the limited number of participants restricts the generalization of the findings. However, the advantage of using case studies in educational research is recognized as an effective approach to better understand the processes or dynamics of certain aspects of practice [65,66]. To obtain more reliable data that reaffirm our conclusions, it will be necessary to expand the sample size to validate the results of our study in future research.

Based on the results obtained in the interviews, we can highlight that the children in the two municipalities felt an attachment and an emotional bond to their town. They liked their town, as no child responded negatively to the questions about affective and emotional bonds with their town. Regarding the questions about educational resources for studying outdoors, all students in the two municipalities saw that there are resources in their towns for learning. Regarding the questions about the care and maintenance of the towns, all students from the two municipalities offered possible actions to take, with several of them agreeing to stop littering.

Concerning questions related to STEAM education, we can distinguish two types of answers. The answers given by the students about learning several subjects at the same time were very different in the two municipalities, possibly because it is different from usual teaching.

If we analyze the graph made with ATLAS.ti, we must emphasize that the questions regarding people’s preferences, the educational resources present, the use of outdoor classrooms, and the teaching of subjects at the same time were always answered positively. Additionally, the enjoyment of the session, which developed using educational resources, should be highlighted. The fact that students liked their town already implies an emotional and affective connection with their local space, where they recognize possible educational resources and the possibility of studying outdoors. The developed session establishes a basis for learning, fostering a connection between students and the existing educational resources surrounding them with another perspective.

Concerning the quantitative research developed, we cannot draw clear conclusions because the sample was very small, so its reliability must be questioned, and we can only extract reflections to visualize the ideas of the students who carried out the sessions. In this section, we must emphasize that there were two statements to which 80% of the students surveyed from the two municipalities agreed by marking “Always”. It should be noted that these two statements were agreed on by 100% of the students from the municipality of Villanueva de Gómez; from this, we can infer the significance that animals and plants hold for children in relation to the planet and the importance they place on caring for nature and the countryside, which is linked to the rural environment.

With the sessions held, an attempt was made to increase scientific interest, among other things, with the magnifying glasses and the experiment, which were both very well accepted in both municipalities. The students could work with existing educational resources in rural areas, in addition to learning the importance of always keeping the town cared for with the work of the three Rs in the sessions. The artistic part, which emphasizes the A of the Arts of STEAM, was also present in the sessions.

Observing students’ good acceptance of rural outdoor resources, rural school teachers should use these valuable heritage resources in their schools. In this sense, we align with authors such as Gavari et al. [25] and Morales [67], who demand a National Plan to improve rural schools or provide new strategies that integrate new methodologies, in addition to greater involvement of institutions to enhance the educational system based on STEM/STEAM strategies. Tamargo et al. [68] detected the lack of educational policies related to the comprehensive STEAM model. Education laws should address issues such as the value of rural resources and STEAM education.

This article aspires to serve as a consultation resource for teachers and legislators to value the educational resources that rural areas offer. The findings presented in this paper could serve as a basis for educational policymakers to consider rural and natural educational resources as highly valuable. We consider it necessary to discuss possible interventions that could address the identified challenges, such as teacher training programs on the use of rural natural resources; curricular modifications in the educational policies of countries that incorporate rural STEAM education using natural, rural, agricultural, and forestry educational resources; and proposing initiatives focused on the use of outdoor rural resources for the development of rural STEAM education.

Furthermore, this work hopes to advance future research in this field, serving as a basis for further and broader studies that will assess the outdoor educational resources rural areas offer for developing STEAM education in this direction. For future studies, it is recommended to consider biases or limitations that may influence students’ responses (e.g., social desirability bias, interviewer influence), depending on the specific case study. Depending on the specific case, we should consider that students may sometimes be influenced and even conditioned when responding to interviews or surveys.

Education is recognized as an essential tool for enhancing rural communities globally, as natural environments provide valuable resources for developing STEAM education in rural schools worldwide. This study highlights the importance of fostering environmental awareness and stewardship through hands-on learning experiences emphasizing local ecosystems. By integrating nature, agriculture, and environmental care into education, rural communities can cultivate a deeper connection to their surroundings, promoting sustainability and a greater appreciation for the natural world.

Having students see with their own eyes how they can work with a specific rural resource in a particular area of their town is a way for them to value, with an added educational and training perspective, that existing resource in their town.

Finally, teaching students from an early age to care for, respect, and admire nature and their rural environment, including the countryside, animals, and plants, can awaken a sensitivity towards everything surrounding them in future societies. The emotional, affective, and social ties that children may have with their towns must also be strengthened in rural schools in their daily learning. It is a fundamental axis of forming societies more linked to sustainable development and prepared to achieve the 17 objectives of the 2030 Agenda, where students feel responsible for their daily actions in their towns from an early age.