"Us-Like People": Social Impact Assessment Opportunity-Threats in Rural Boomtown Classrooms and Communities

• In Event: Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: Problematics of Rural Social Mobility

Abstract

Rapidly growing rural communities may experience many forms of disruptions, jeopardizing residents’ place attachment and identity. Gramling and Freudenburg’s (1992) Social Impact Assessment (SIA) model described opportunity-threats to systems in these community contexts. This qualitative case study used the SIA model to examine systems of disruptions and acceptance factors from the perspective of boomtown residents, and how teachers’ pedagogy reflected place identity and newcomer resistance. This research included interviews with community members (n=27), and interviews and observations of K-12 school staff (n=14). Findings indicate residents and teachers strengthened their place identity and attributed place disruptions and risks to newcomers, inhibiting their acceptance. Teachers reinforced newcomer resistance within these disrupted systems, indicating the SIA model may apply to rural boomtown schools.

Author

• Vincent R. Genareo, Iowa State University