Appalachian Students Face Postsecondary Challenges With Agency: The Need for Critically Engaged Research in Appalachian Communities

• In Event: Roundtable Session 24
  In Roundtable Session: Rural School, College, and Career Transitions

Abstract

In light of persistent deficit­oriented educational research addressing rural Appalachian adolescents’ transition to post­secondary education and work there is need for a different view to counter the danger that this orientation has in influencing educational and social policy. In this conceptual paper the authors argue for the need of critically­informed scholarship to address this issue. Situated within critical theory, the authors review a cross­section of scholarship on this topic, and first deconstruct deficit perspectives. Secondly, they examine how this orientation stifles effective problem­solving for supporting Appalachian students’ positive engagement with post­secondary options. Finally, the authors outline how critically­oriented research can more accurately inform educational policy to understand and draw on students and families as resources rather than liabilities.

Authors

• Brandi Slider Weekley, West Virginia University

• Audra Slocum, West Virginia University