Toward a Pedagogy of Place: Finding Common Ground for Rural Researchers, Teacher Educators, and Practitioners. Roundtable Notes (original) (raw)
There is an evolving paradigm shift in the field of rural education away from emulating urban schools and toward a pedagogy of place. This shift is influenced by the following trends: 1) the rediscovery of the unique features of rural and small schools as strengths to be nurtured, not problems to be solved; 2) the recognition that centralized, large-scale organizational models resulting from a century of global industrial expansion and resource extraction have been inappropriate for rural contexts, and the environmental sensitivity and new appreciation for rural places that has grown in response to these often destructive models; 3) the acknowledgment of the role of teachers as gatekeepers of change within classrooms, the centrality of rural schools within their communities, and the many distinctive features of revitalized rural schools as essential elements of educational reform; 4) the redesign of teacher education to prepare teachers for restructured rural schools; 5) the connection of the classroom with the community through service learning and environmental education programs based on study and stewardship of local ecosystems; 6) the use of new information technologies for developing teacher networks that combat rural teacher isolation; 7) increased efforts to raise levels of sensitivity and tolerance among rural students toward racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity; 8) the use of rural films and literature as source materials for a rural curriculum; and 9) rural teachers as producers of curricula that are appropriate to their needs and contexts. (TD)
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