Morality and the Ethic of Care: Peaceable Rural Schools, Caring Rural Communities

2010 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-31
Author(s):  
Linda P. Thurston ◽  
Terry R. Berkeley
1998 ◽  
Vol 17 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 71-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda P. Thurston ◽  
Terry R. Berkeley

There is violence and a loss of personal safety in rural schools as there is in urban and suburban schools. The impact is felt by children, teachers, support staff, administrators, and citizens in the communities in which those schools are located. These tensions are as widespread as are the great differences and increased diversity of America's rural communities. In this article, these concerns are discussed. Solutions are presented with violence and the loss of personal safety being highlighted as resolvable problems via a consideration of all members of the community moving to an ethic of caring, living in communities characterized as caring, thus, attending peaceable schools. Morality and the Ethic of Care: Peaceable Rural Schools, Caring Rural Communities “To educate a person in mind but not in morals is a menace to society.” T. Roosevelt “A question a'int really a question if you know the answer too.” J. Prine “The best thing for disturbances of the spirit…is to learn.” T.H. White Recently on National Public Radio's “Morning Edition” it was reported in Butte, Montana, the Superintendent of Schools now has the principals in the district hold regular safety drills for her students, teachers, aides, and other staff in light of the recent spate of publicized attacks of violence taking place in American schools, especially those taking place in Rural Schools.


Author(s):  
Wallace Hannum ◽  
Matthew Irvin ◽  
Claire de la Varre

Rural schools in many countries face problems in providing educational opportunities to children and youth for a variety of reasons. There has been the tendency in many countries to migrate to urban areas, often in search of better economic opportunities. The resulting shift from rural areas to urban/suburban areas has placed increased pressures on schools in rural communities. Schools often form the hub of social and civic activity in rural communities. Although they are an important component to rural communities, many rural schools are struggling under the weight of declining populations, declining budgets, staffing difficulties, and increased pressures to better prepare students for the workforce or further education. Rural schools face particular difficulties in attracting and retaining qualified teachers. Faced with problems of providing a comprehensive curriculum and qualified teachers, many rural schools in the United States have turned to distance education. This case explores the use of distance education in the United States through a national survey of distance education use, analysis of barriers to distance education and an experimental study of enhancing distance education through more appropriate training of local facilitators to support students.


Author(s):  
Ken Stevens

This case outlines the development of a pre-internet education initiative in New Zealand that linked eight rural schools, each with declining enrollments, to collaborate through audio technology in sharing specialist high school teachers. The collaborative structure that was formed enabled senior high school students in the intranet to access courses not available on-site, thereby expanding their range of curriculum options. Replication of the New Zealand model in rural Atlantic Canada, enhanced by the Internet, enabled senior students in an intranet to access four Advanced Placement (AP) science subjects, each taught from a participating site. Within the New Zealand and Canadian intranets collaborative teaching and learning has developed. The creation of virtual educational structures that support and enhance traditional classes has expanded the capacity of participating rural schools and reduced the significance of their physical locations. The New Zealand and Canadian initiatives highlight the possibilities of inter-school collaboration to sustain education in small rural communities.


Author(s):  
Ken Stevens

As rural communities and schools decline in size educational policy makers often question their viability. In the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador and in New Zealand, new educational structures based on digital networking, using the Internet, have been developed for the delivery of education to rural schools. Within these electronic educational structures senior students in rural high schools have been provided with extended curriculum choice through a combination of on-site and online instruction. This has led to three challenges: the administration of electronically inter-connected rural schools, the integration of physical and virtual classes, and the need to find pedagogy that is appropriate for e-teaching and e-learning. The new educational structures in rural Newfoundland and New Zealand have extended traditional classrooms in terms of time, space, organisation and capacity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Beach ◽  
Monica Johansson ◽  
Elisabet Öhrn ◽  
Maria Rönnlund ◽  
Rosvall Per-Åke

Based on ethnographic fieldwork in six different types of rural area and their schools in different parts of Sweden, this article identifies how rural schools relate to the local place and discusses some of the educational implications from this. Recurrent references to the local community were present in some schools and people there explicitly positioned themselves in the local rural context and valorised rurality positively in education exchanges, content and interactions, with positive effects on young people’s experiences of participation and inclusion. These factors tended to occur in sparsely populated areas. An emphasis on nature and its value as materially vital in people’s lives was present as was a critique of middle-class metrocentricity. Such values and critique seemed to be absent in other areas, where rurality was instead often represented along the metrocentric lines of a residual space in modernizing societies.


AERA Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 233285842098618
Author(s):  
Minseok Yang ◽  
Se Woong Lee ◽  
Peter T. Goff

Numerous studies have explored the labor market of school principals, documenting high turnover rates and voicing concerns regarding labor supply. However, little is known about the staffing challenges in rural schools and what promotes applicants to apply for and be hired for principalship in these locales. In partnership with the Wisconsin Education Career Access Network, we examine the principal labor dynamics in rural schools using statewide job-openings and application information. Results indicate that all rural communities—rural fringe, rural distant, and rural remote—receive comparable numbers of applications, as compared with urban districts. Female candidates and candidates of color are significantly less likely to apply to rural districts, while experience working in the same district is a considerable advantage to being hired. Additionally, higher student poverty is associated with fewer principal applicants in rural schools. These results indicate the need for policies better attuned to subtle differences in rural contexts.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Lee

This article examines how lesbian, gay and bisexual teachers in rural schools negotiate their sexual identities within the workplace. Although there has been progress towards LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) inclusion for teachers in urban and suburban schools, this article shows that their rural counterparts often experience their school communities differently. A questionnaire gathered data from school teachers in the United Kingdom identifying as LGBT. Whilst a small number of transgender, gender queer and non-binary teachers completed the questionnaire, it is important to note that these teachers taught only in urban environments. In rural schools, respondents identified only as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB). Therefore, LGB is used when referring to the rural respondents in this study and LGBT is used when referring generally to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The experiences of teachers working in rural schools were compared with those working in urban or suburban school settings. Results showed that LGB teachers in rural communities lack the opportunity to speak their identity into existence at school, and often find their personal and professional identities incompatible, leading to low self-worth, depression and anxiety. The article shows that in rural school communities, traditional and conservative rural norms and values are compelling and are often protected at the expense of creating safe and inclusive workplaces for LGB teachers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas D. Thomas

Middle level teachers and administrators working in small or rural schools often face unique obstacles in implementing recommended middle level practices. From sharing staff and schedules with other school sites, to inappropriate instructional techniques, to a general lack of understanding of the middle level philosophy, these obstacles can be a source of frustration for school leaders and hinder school improvement initiatives. A better understanding of these issues and the discussion of potential solutions will benefit teachers,  administrators, and policy makers in improving middle level education in rural communities. By building on the positive characteristics found in rural and smaller schools, as well as identifying and addressing the obstacles encountered at smaller schools, middle level leaders can create and maintain distinctive and effective programs for their students.  


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 12-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Mitchell ◽  
Allison Wynhoff Olsen ◽  
Patrick Hampton ◽  
James Hicks ◽  
Danette Long ◽  
...  

One ongoing challenge that educator preparation programs frequently encounter is their limited ability to authentically expose preservice teachers (PSTs) to rural schools and potential careers in rural school districts. To remedy this concern, faculty at three institutions in both the United States and Australia have developed targeted initiatives designed to provide initial exposure to rural schools, build a rural-intensive element within a practicum course, and establish rural immersion experiences for PSTs. A detailed look at the structure of these programs, a comparison of these three diverse approaches, and recommendations for the expansion and sustainability of these efforts are highlighted within this narrative. Through this comparison of activities being advanced in both countries, the authors provide a better understanding of the options and effectiveness related to initial rural school exposure.


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