Paying Attention to Rural Education

For many communities, particularly rural communities, schools serve as a source of identity. Because of this, the problems that plague rural schools become enough of a problem that they threaten the identity of the community; unfortunately, many lawmakers and policymakers in seats of power do not have an intuitive understanding of how rural schools work. Policies that work for urban schools, or even suburban schools, can not be assumed to fit the role of a rural school. It is suggested in this article that more attention needs to be paid to rural schools that fly under the radar or have misdiagnosed problems. Even though a greater number of people are moving to rural areas from urban environments, nationwide awareness of problems in the rural system is nonexistent. As teachers, it is our job to be aware of the problems in rural schools, and to possibly find creative solutions to these problems. Most importantly, teachers must be aware of how these problems affect our students lives both at home and at school.

Because of it’s relatively small place in the entire American education system, the problems of rural education often go overlooked or generalized to fit the problems of urban and suburban environments. The author makes a point of noting that rural schools are not “urban or suburban schools, only set in remote locations,” ( 19 McArdle). The author further argues that “while rural and urban schools share certain challenges, including the devastating effects of poverty on school children, there are a myriad other problems specific to rural schools, which is why applying an urban model and urban solutions to rural schools simply doesn’t work,” (19 McArdle). These differing problems include long commutes, transportat...

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...at much more crucial in the success of the students and school. Teachers must be mindful of the specific problems in their school and community, creative when finding solutions, and open to finding ways to promote diversity when the curriculum materials are lacking. In order for rural schools to compete with the increasingly global society, it is important for students to gain this kind of multicultural awareness. Urban schools are not the only schools that need focus and attention; we need to make sure that we are considering everybody when we talk about public school improvement in America.

Bibliography

Gollnick, Donna M., and Philip C. Chinn. Multicultural Education in a Pluralistic Society. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall, 2006. Print.

McArdle, Elain. "Boon, Not Boondock." Harvard Graduate School of Education (2008). Print.