“Hidden Gems” and “Rough Mannerisms”: Examining Preservice Teachers’ Discourses of Place and Rurality
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3776/tpre.2024.v14n2p82-106Keywords:
rural contexts, teacher preparation, teacher residency, preservice teachers, place-based educationAbstract
While research has examined preservice teachers' perceptions toward rural schools, there is limited research on how they navigate their own discourses of rural communities, particularly for preservice teachers embedded in the rural communities in which they teach. In this exploratory qualitative study, we examine the discourses of place and rurality of four preservice teachers (residents) while enrolled in a rural teacher residency program in the northeastern United States. Findings suggest that rural residents' discourses oscillated between place "as it is" and place as it "ought to be" as they identified strengths and challenges of generalized and specific rural communities. Additionally, findings suggest that preservice teachers engaged with and resisted idyllic and deficit discourses of place and rurality, drawing on their experiences living in and engaging with the unique contexts of their rural communities. We offer implications of this work for our responsibility as teacher educators who prepare teachers for schools and the rural contexts in which they will teach.
References
Anthony-Stevens, V., Langford, S. (2020). "What do you need a course like that for?" Conceptualizing diverse ruralities in rural teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 71(3), 332–344. https://doi-org.unh.idm.oclc.org/10.1177%2F0022487119861582
Azano, A. P., & Stewart, T. T. (2015). Exploring place and practicing justice: Preparing preservice teachers for success in rural schools. Journal of Research in Rural Education, (30)9, 1–12. https://jrre.psu.edu/sites/default/files/2019-08/30-9.pdf
Azano, A. P., & Stewart, T. T. (2016). Confronting challenges at the intersection of rurality, place and teacher preparation: Improving efforts in teacher education to staff rural schools. Global Education Review, 3(1) 108–128. https://ger.mercy.edu/index.php/ger/article/view/174
Barley, Z. A. (2009). Preparing teachers for rural appointments: Lessons from the mid-continent. Rural Educator, 30(3), 10–15. https://doi.org/10.35608/ruraled.v30i3.444
Barley, Z. A., & Brigham, N. (2008). Preparing teachers to teach in rural schools (Issues & Answers Report, REL 2008–No. 045). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory Central. http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs
Biddle, C., & Azano, A. P. (2016). Constructing and reconstructing the "rural school problem": A century of rural education research. Review of Research in Education, 40(1), 298–325. https://doi.org/10.3102%2F0091732X16667700
Bogdan, R. C., & Biklen, S. K. (2007). Research for education: An introduction to theories and methods (5th ed.). Pearson.
Burkett, C., & Gimbert, B. G. (2009). South Carolina's program of alternative certification for educators (PACE): Pedagogical content knowledge and post-employment performance. Journal of the National Association for Alternative Certification, 4(1), 18–53. http://www.jnaac.com/index.php/JNAAC/article/view/27/15
Burton, M., & Johnson, A. S. (2010). "Where else would we teach?": Portraits of two teachers in the rural South. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(4), 376–386. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0022487110372362
Campbell, A. M., & Yates, G. C. R. (2011). Want to be a country teacher? No, I am too metrocentric. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 26(4), 1–12. https://jrre.psu.edu/sites/default/files/2019-08/26-4.pdf
Cobbold, C. (2006). Attracting and retaining rural teachers in Ghana: The premise and promise of a district sponsorship scheme. Journal of Education for Teaching, 32(4), 453–469. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607470600982142
Corbett, M. (2010). Backing the right horse: Teacher education, sociocultural analysis and literacy in rural education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(1), 82–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2009.08.001
Emerson, R. M., Fretz, R. I., & Shaw, L. L. (2011). Writing ethnographic fieldnotes. University of Chicago Press.
Fry, S. W., & Anderson, H. (2011). Career changers as first-year teachers in rural schools. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 26(12), 1–15. https://jrre.psu.edu/sites/default/files/2019-08/26-12.pdf
Gee, J. P. (2014). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method (4th ed.). Routledge.
Greenwood, D. A. (2013). A critical theory of place-conscious education. In R. B. Stevenson, M. Brody, J. Dillon, & A. E. J. Wals (Eds.), International handbook of research on environmental education (pp. 93–100). Routledge.
Haberman, M. (1996). Selecting and preparing culturally competent teachers for urban schools. In T. J. Buttery, E. Guyton, & J. P. Sikula (Eds.), Handbook of research on teacher education (2nd ed., pp. 747–760). Macmillan Library Reference USA.
Hollenstein, T. (2013). State space grids. Springer.
Islam, F. (2012). Understanding pre-service teacher education discourses in communities of practice: A reflection from an intervention in rural South Africa. Perspectives in Education, 30(1), 19–29. https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/pie/article/view/1729
Kaden, U., & Patterson, P. P. (2014). Changing assessment practices of teaching candidates and variables that facilitate that change. Action in Teacher Education, 36(5-6), 406–420. https://doi.org/10.1080/01626620.2014.977700
Kline, J., & Walker-Gibbs, B. (2015). Graduate teacher preparation for rural schools in Victoria and Queensland. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(3), 68–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2014v40n3.5
Kline, J., White, S., & Lock, G. (2013). The rural practicum: Preparing a quality teacher workforce for rural and regional Australia. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 28(3), 1–13. http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30050747
Lewis, M. D., Lamey, A. V., & Douglas, L. (1999). A new dynamic systems method for the analysis of early socioemotional development. Developmental Science, 2(4), 457–475. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7687.00090
Lichter, D. T., & Brown, D. L. (2011). Rural America in an urban society: Changing spatial and social boundaries. Annual Review of Sociology, 37, 565-592. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-081309-150208
Lock, G. (2008). Preparing teachers for rural appointments: Lessons from Australia. Rural Educator, 29(2), 24–30. https://doi.org/10.35608/ruraled.v29i2.470
Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (4th ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Miller, L. C. (2012). Situating the rural teacher labor market in the broader context: A descriptive analysis of the market dynamics in New York state. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 27(13), 1–31. https://jrre.psu.edu/sites/default/files/2019-08/27-13.pdf
Monk, D. H. (2007). Recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers in rural areas. The Future of Children, 17(1), 155–174. https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2007.0009
O'Neal, D. D., Ringler, M., & Rodriguez, D. (2008). Teachers' perceptions of their preparation for teaching linguistically and culturally diverse learners in rural eastern North Carolina. The Rural Educator, 30(1), 5–13. https://doi.org/10.35608/ruraled.v30i1.456
Reagan, E.M., Coppens, A., Couse, L., Hambacher, E., Lord, D., McCurdy, K. & Silva Pimentel, D. (2018). Toward a framework for the design and implementation of the Teacher Residency for Rural Education. In M. Reardon & J. Leanord (Eds.) Innovation and Implementation: School-University-Community Partnerships in Rural Communities (pp. 81–106). Information Age Publishers.
Reagan, E. M., Hambacher, E., Schram, T., McCurdy, K., Lord, D., Higginbotham, T., & Fornauf, B. (2019). Place matters: Review of the literature on rural teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 80, 83–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.12.005
Reid, J., Green, B., Cooper, M., Hastings, W., Lock, G., & White, S. (2010). Regenerating rural social space? Teacher education for rural-regional sustainability. Australian Journal of Education, 54(3), 262–276. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F000494411005400304
Roberts, P., & Cuervo, H. (2015). What next for rural education research? Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 25(3), 1–8. https://journal.spera.asn.au/index.php/AIJRE/article/view/99/73
Rose, L. T., Rouhani, P., & Fischer, K. W. (2013). The science of the individual. Mind, Brain and Education, 7(3), 152–158. https://lsi.gse.harvard.edu/files/gse-individuality/files/roserouhanifischer2013.pdf
Schafft, K. A., & Jackson, A. Y. (2010). Introduction: Rural education and community in the twenty-first century. In K. A. Schafft & A. Y. Jackson (Eds.), Rural education for the twenty-first century (pp. 1–13). Pennsylvania State University Press.
Sharplin, E. (2010). A taste of country: A pre-service teacher rural field trip. Education in Rural Australia, 20(1), 17–27.
Sobel, D. (2004). Place-based education: Connecting classrooms and communities. The Orion Society.
Somerville, M., Plunkett, M., & Dyson, M. (2010). New teachers learning in rural and regional Australia. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 38(1), 39–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/13598660903474130
Thier, M., Longhurst, J. M., Grant, P. D., & Hocking, J. E. (2021). Research deserts: A systematic mapping review of U.S. rural education definitions and geographies. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 37(2), 1–24. https://jrre.psu.edu/sites/default/files/2021-02/37-2.pdf
van Vondel, S., Steenbeek, H., van Dijk, M., & van Geert, P. (2017). Ask, don't tell; A complex dynamic systems approach to improving science education by focusing on the co-construction of scientific understanding. Teaching and Teacher Education, 63, 243–253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.12.012
Vernikoff, L., Schram, T., Reagan, E. M., Horn, C., Goodwin, A. L,. & Couse, C. (2018). Beyond urban or rural: Field based experiences for teacher residencies in diverse contexts. In T. E. Hodges & A. C. Baum (Eds). Handbook of research on field-based teacher education (pp. 256–279). IGI Global.
White, S., & Reid, J. (2008). Placing teachers? Sustaining rural schooling through place-consciousness in teacher education. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 23(7), 1–11. https://www.ruralteachers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/placing-teachers.pdf
Yarrow, A., Ballantyne, R., Hansford, B., Herschell, P., & Millwater, J. (1999). Teaching in rural and remote schools: A literature review. Teaching and Teacher Education, 15(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(98)00036-5
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Emilie Reagan, Emilie Coppinger, Bryan Mascio, Allie Tompkins, Beth Fornauf
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright Notice
Articles will be published using a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Sharealike license. (For more information on this license, please visit the Creative Commons license page.) Please also note that the authors are explicitly granting permission for Academic Library Services to store a copy of the article in The ScholarShip, ECU's Institutional Repository under the terms of the current ScholarShip license. As a North Carolina agency, ECU contributes copies of all publications to the North Carolina State Archives.
