This definitive look at teaching English in rural secondary schools contests current definitions and discussions of rural education, examines their ideological and cultural foundations, and presents an alternative perspective that conceptualizes rural communities as diverse, unique, and conducive to pedagogical and personal growth in teaching and learning. Authentic narratives document individual teachers’ moments of struggle and success in learning to understand, value, and incorporate rural literacies and sensibilities into their curricula. The teachers‘ stories and the scholarly analysis of issues raised through them illuminate the unique challenges and rewards of teaching English in a rural school and offer helpful insights and knowledge for navigating the pedagogical landscape.
Author(s): Lisa Schade Eckert; Janet Alsup (eds.)
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2015
Language: English
Pages: 165
Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Dedication......Page 6
CONTENTS......Page 8
Foreword......Page 10
Preface......Page 14
1 Literacy Teaching and Learning in Rural Communities: Problematizing Stereotypes, Challenging Myths......Page 22
PART I From Stranger to Native: Early Career Teacher Narratives......Page 32
2 From Stranger to Native: Early Career Teacher Narratives......Page 34
3 A Rural Education: From Stranger to Strangerer......Page 40
4 Crossing the Tracks, or The Bacon of Despair: The Story of One Teacher’s Story . . . of One Teacher’s Story . . . of Teaching in a Rural School......Page 54
5 Falling Through the Rabbit Hole and Teaching Through the Looking Glass: Experiences of a New Teacher in a Rural School......Page 69
6 Is There Such a Thing as Caring Too Much? A Farm Girl Swims With Sharks......Page 81
PART II Teaching Through Place: Mid- to Late-Career Teacher Narratives......Page 92
7 Teaching Through Place: Mid- to Late-Career Teacher Narratives......Page 94
8 Lessons From the Inside Out: Poetry, Epiphanies, and Creative Literary Culture in a Rural Montana High School......Page 99
9 Bridging Divides Through Place-Based Research, or What I Didn’t Know About Hunting in the Northern Rockies......Page 116
10 Whose Kids Are They, Anyway? Balancing Personal and Professional Identities in a Rural School......Page 126
11 Teaching and Learning at Nay Ah Shing School......Page 135
12 Teaching in My Own Voice: A 30-Year Pedagogical Journey......Page 145
Contributors......Page 158
Index......Page 162
