Socio-Economic Impact of The Existence of Educational Institutions in the Midst of Rural Communities: A Case Study of the Natural Laboratory and Study House of De Britto High School in Pambregan Hamlet, Trimulyo, Sleman, DIY

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the socio-economic impact of the existence of the Natural Laboratory and Study House of De Britto High School on the livelihoods of the community in Pambregan Hamlet, Trimulyo, Sleman, DIY, as well as to examine the pattern of relations that emerge between the educational institution and the villagers in the process of agrarian space transformation. The research employs a qualitative approach with a phenomenological design. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with the management, field observations, and documentation studies, then analyzed using the interactive model of Miles and Huberman. The theoretical framework includes the production of space theory (Lefebvre & Nicholson-Smith, 1991),the concept of accumulation by dispossession (Harvey, 2004), the Powers of Exclusion framework (Hall et al., 2013), and the place attachment approach within the phenomenological tradition. This layered theoretical approach enables researchers to capture the complexity of power, economic, and social relations occurring at the research site.

The results show that the presence of De Britto's educational facilities reinforces the dynamics of urban sprawl that converts agrarian land into built-up land, in line with the peri-urban transformation pattern in Sleman Regency. However, De Britto consistently applies community integration mechanisms that prevent full social exclusion, including through prioritizing local workers, economic empowerment via canteen management by village women, granting access to building facilities for villagers' social activities, and utilizing the village context as a character-learning space for students. Field findings also indicate that the people of Pambregan Village are not entirely passive victims of urbanization pressure; rather, they actively seize available opportunities while maintaining their communal values. This pattern reflects a form of counter-exclusion to the logic of accumulation by dispossession commonly occurring in institutional expansion into rural areas. This study concludes that the socio-economic impact of educational institutions on rural communities is not univocal: agrarian space transformation and community inclusion can occur simultaneously, depending on the relational commitment of dominant actors toward local residents. Thus, this research makes an important contribution to the literature on urban and rural agrarian studies in Indonesia, particularly in understanding how educational institutions can act as agents of transformation that are also inclusive.