The National Education Association states that rural schools in America "do more with less." In many ways, "less" often means less money, less access to teaching resources, less access to professional development, and less technological support. And, the "doing more" leads to multiple teaching preparation responsibilities, more extra curricular sponsorships, and additional roles within the school context.
While I also have teaching experience in urban and suburban schools, over the last 12 years, I have been working for a small, rural school district in central Illinois. Having first hand experience with NEA's "do more with less," it makes me wonder about the role of rural education in a time of social, political, and economical unrest.
I'd like to talk about my curiosities in two parts: My experience and insight to teaching in a "do more with less" classroom context and how can we take action to move forward.
Doing More With Less
From staying late into the evening to prepare for student activities to wearing a variety of hats that come with an array of responsibilities, teaching in a rural school district certainly shook me to my teaching core when I first started over 10 years ago. As teachers of any school district can relate, the access to resources and living wages ebb and flow over the years. What became such a stark difference between my experiences in urban and suburban education settings wasn’t so much of the tangible things that we need to construct positive, meaningful learning experiences but it was the roots of complacency that embedded deep into the inner workings of our small town school.
My school district continues to be the heart of the community. There is a strong love and affection for the school and the support for the students, teachers, and staff supersede anything I’ve ever experienced before in all of my years of teaching. And, while I noticed when I first started working for my district that I had to increase my workload, it became worth it because I was an invested cog of the community wheel.
I was (and still am) proud to do the additional work it takes to provide enriching learning experiences to my students every year. It was my sixth year teaching in my school when I stood back and reflected on my practice with a critical eye. With support from teacher education rockstars like Robyn, I ventured on a journey to transform my practice because I knew I needed to grow as an educator.
Throughout this growth, I noticed that others around me continued to do the same practices as they always had been accustomed to over the years. And, truthfully, no one would have said anything differently to me if I had continued my same practice over time as well. There were times I even questioned Robyn for pushing my practice into new directions because doing what I’ve always done felt easy, comfortable, and expected. But, is that how I wanted the stakeholders in my community to view my practice with their children?
In rural settings, there seems to be very little need to push boundaries, grow in our professional practice, and even seek means to truly transform our thinking. “Because we’ve always done it like that” continues to be a mantra that weighs heavily on the minds of the people in power.
In rural spaces, it’s easy to forget the world around us, see issues on the internet rather than in person, and keep doing what we’ve always been doing because no one pushes us to think bigger. But, how has complacency impacted students, teachers, and the community? How does complacency factor into the more national and global crises we face as a humanity in today’s world?
So What Can We Do?
As we all know, change can’t happen overnight but it needs to start somewhere. In thinking about my questions and my experience in rural education, I thought of a few potential solutions as we walk together to find answers:
Expand Your Services: Many times I’ve wanted to engage students in bringing in hands on opportunities, interviews, class speakers, etc. and I’ve been told that “we don’t travel outside of town.” Imagine how much access our rural students could have if there was more willingness to venture outside of city limits.
Donate When You Can: While donating to any classroom would benefit students and teachers, think about donations to rural communities as well. In many cases, rural teachers do not change their materials because of the cost - leaving aged materials in the hands of students to be used year after year and missing opportunities to discuss more topical issues. From DonorsChoose campaigns to books for the school library, the need for resources is real.
Share When You Can: If there are resources available or if donation opportunities can be shared, utilize the power of connection to spread awareness to these small towns. The more attention projects, resources, fundings can acquire, the better the chances are to see positive change and action in the classroom.
Reach Out: Do you have access to resources that could benefit rural communities? Often, rural teachers listen to their inner monologues that tell them there isn’t a lot of support out there for their units of study leaving them defeated before trying to seek out other supports. Share and promote your resources, time, and energy with rural schools.
If You Feel Uncomfortable, It’s Because We Need You the Most! I remember inviting several members from the local Immigration Project into my classroom to discuss the current issues happening on the southern US border. In discussing the details of the classroom visit, feeling safe was a concern of many of the people coming to our school. While I would hope it would be automatically said that teachers and schools would do everything in their power to provide a safe environment, it also speaks to the reason why those outside voices need to be in rural schools as well. Students need to hear all perspectives, not just the ones that continue to echo inside their small communities.
If we want to think about changing the divisive discourse in our nation, I believe that one (of many) steps circles back to rural education. When we come together as a nation and seek to work as a humanity, we can’t forget about the rural people.
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