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Full-Text Articles in Education

Rural Teacher Preparation In The State Of Alabama, Avington Medeiros, Eva Kane Jul 2024

Rural Teacher Preparation In The State Of Alabama, Avington Medeiros, Eva Kane

The Rural Educator

Rural teacher recruitment and retention is a matter of interest for the state of Alabama as policymakers look to understand teacher shortages in rural schools across the state. How teachers are prepared to teach in rural schools is an essential part of rural teacher recruitment and retention. Preservice teachers need exposure to rural contexts as a part of their teacher preparation programs. This study examined how teacher preparation programs in Alabama are integrating rural-specific components. Among the 25 teacher preparation programs in Alabama, nearly 25% reported integrating three or more rural-specific components into their teacher preparation programs. Some teacher preparation …


Seasons Of Learning: Rural Indigenous Teacher Preparation, Dani O'Brien, Josh Montgomery, Bezhigogaabawiikwe Hunter, Niizhoobinesiikwe Howes, Waasegiizhigookwe Rosie Gonzalez, Manidoo Makwe Ikwe, Kevin Zak Feb 2024

Seasons Of Learning: Rural Indigenous Teacher Preparation, Dani O'Brien, Josh Montgomery, Bezhigogaabawiikwe Hunter, Niizhoobinesiikwe Howes, Waasegiizhigookwe Rosie Gonzalez, Manidoo Makwe Ikwe, Kevin Zak

The Rural Educator

We, four teachers in Ojibwe or majority-Ojibwe schools and three teachers in teacher preparation at a small ecologically focused liberal arts college, tell stories to reorient ourselves, centering place in ways accessible to our emerging practice. In these narratives, anchored in the seasons, we describe our challenges and successes in adapting education programs to better evoke the lifeways that predominate in our shared part of rural northern Wisconsin immersed in the lands of the Ojibwe. We relied on experiences, both ours and of Ojibwe learners, to illuminate the rhythms of our place and the seasons of learning defined by boreal …


“There's An Unspoken Set Of Rules”: Rural Education In The Northern Plains, Louise M. Yoho, Jarrett D. Moore Oct 2023

“There's An Unspoken Set Of Rules”: Rural Education In The Northern Plains, Louise M. Yoho, Jarrett D. Moore

The Rural Educator

Teacher preparation programs that operate in rural areas need to consider the lived experiences of rural students when making instructional decisions. However, exploration of rural schools and educators is seriously limited. This study aims to gain an understanding of students enrolled in teacher preparation programs in rural areas of the Northern Plains and the unique experiences they bring to, and need from, preservice teacher training programs. Seventeen interviews were conducted with rural participants who were enrolled in teacher preparation programs. Based on the data collected, we do not recommend changing the traditional canon of teacher preparation but do recommend contextualizing …


The Benefits Of University Faculty As P-12 Substitute Teachers, Odin Jurkowski, Deanna Jurkowski, Rene Burress Jul 2023

The Benefits Of University Faculty As P-12 Substitute Teachers, Odin Jurkowski, Deanna Jurkowski, Rene Burress

The Rural Educator

The current substitute teacher shortage was exacerbated by COVID-19 and is not expected to improve any time soon. A solution that may benefit both P-12 schools and higher education involves the occasional utilization of university faculty as substitute teachers. This alleviates some of the pressure on school districts in finding substitute teachers while also building relationships, providing university faculty with current classroom experience, and serving as a recruitment pipeline.


Understanding Rural Communities: Crafting Local Inquiries As Praxis For Pre-Service Ela Students In Teaching Composition, Cathie English Apr 2023

Understanding Rural Communities: Crafting Local Inquiries As Praxis For Pre-Service Ela Students In Teaching Composition, Cathie English

The Rural Educator

This study focused upon a sequence of three inquiry assignments with pre-service teachers (PSTs) in English language arts in an advanced composition and theory methods course. Place conscious and critical literacy scholars argue for a deeper understanding of rural lifeways and note the deficit or lesser than assumptions associated with rural communities and the need to develop a critical rural literacy to address the specific needs of rural educators as well as address the long-standing stereotypes. This study’s purpose was to determine if these inquiry tools can be used to teach PSTs a critical literacy that can be applied in …


There’S Land Between Us: Rurality In The Northern Great Plains, Jarrett D. Moore, Louise M. Yoho Apr 2023

There’S Land Between Us: Rurality In The Northern Great Plains, Jarrett D. Moore, Louise M. Yoho

The Rural Educator

While there is a significant body of educational literature addressing the character and needs of rural communities in the Appalachian and southern regions of the US, there is a need for a better understanding of rural communities outside of this region. Existing literature focused on US rurality revolves around four main themes: the rural idyllic, isolation and deficits, rural identity, and community. The voices, experiences, and needs of future teachers of the Northern Great Plains are missing from this dominant narrative and this study begins to address this gap. This qualitative study is based on data collected from 16 semi-structured …


Exploring Collaborative Professionalism As A Means Of Virtually Supporting Rural Teachers, Martha Inouye, Ana K. Houseal, Clare Gunshenan, Angus Mcreynolds, Mark Perkins Jan 2023

Exploring Collaborative Professionalism As A Means Of Virtually Supporting Rural Teachers, Martha Inouye, Ana K. Houseal, Clare Gunshenan, Angus Mcreynolds, Mark Perkins

The Rural Educator

Thirty percent of US teachers work in rural schools where geographic isolation and lack of peers can make it difficult for them to engage in collaborative professional relationships with colleagues. Facilitated professional development can be used as a way to build these networks. Using a situative perspective in which teachers are viewed as experts and agents in their own professional learning and by capitalizing on the rapid increase in understanding and use of video conferencing in 2021, the research team developed an open-enrollment, co-designed series of workshops for rural teachers in the intermountain West. The team was interested in how …


Theorizing Cultural (Mis)Recognition In Rural School Staffing: Implementing A Social Justice Frame To Understand Challenges To Attract Rural Teachers, Hernan Cuervo Jan 2023

Theorizing Cultural (Mis)Recognition In Rural School Staffing: Implementing A Social Justice Frame To Understand Challenges To Attract Rural Teachers, Hernan Cuervo

The Rural Educator

Attracting teachers to rural schools continues to be a problem in Australian education. Debates on how to remedy staff shortages are based on a better distribution of financial and material resources. This emphasis on distribution has sidelined the role of recognition theory in understanding the challenges of rural staffing. I draw on the social justice frameworks of Nancy Fraser and Axel Honneth to argue that rural staffing challenges are anchored not just on matters of distribution but on issues that lead to the cultural misrecognition and disrespect of teaching and learning in rural places. Using data from a qualitative research …


Understanding The Priorities And Practices Of Rural Science Teachers: Implications For Designing Professional Learning, Kerri Wingert, Jennifer Jacobs, William Lindsay, Abraham S. Lo, Cari F. Herrmann-Abell, William R. Penuel Jul 2022

Understanding The Priorities And Practices Of Rural Science Teachers: Implications For Designing Professional Learning, Kerri Wingert, Jennifer Jacobs, William Lindsay, Abraham S. Lo, Cari F. Herrmann-Abell, William R. Penuel

The Rural Educator

In order to design professional learning that supports rural science teachers to effectively implement standards-based “five-dimensional” (5D) instructional and assessment practices, a critical first step is to elicit their perspectives, prior experiences, concerns, and interests. Based on survey data from 87 rural science teachers in Colorado, along with focus group sessions with 18 of those teachers, this article investigates teachers’ perspectives on what makes rural science teaching unique, the degree to which they use 5D science instruction, their curricular and assessment resources, and their professional learning experiences and preferences. Overall, rural science teachers in Colorado reported using rich practices for …