Who Am I? Cultural Identity in Rural Schools

• In Event: The Curriculum of Forgotten Rural Places: Identity, Indigeneity, Education, Urbanism, and Cartographies

Abstract

Based on the personal narrative of the presenter attending K-12 school in a rural community in PA, this presentation will focus on the implications of experiencing racial tension and loss of identity at a very young age, coupled with the general feeling of being invisible by her teachers and the school’s curriculum, played a key role in the presenter’s childhood development. Albeit anecdotal, this narrative is far from an anomaly if we examine the scores of urban and rural students who feel socially marginalized, excluded, or invisible based on racial, cultural, ethnic, class, gender, or sexual identity. The main objective of this presentation is to argue for a reconceptualized pedagogical vision of multiculturalism by re-envisioning multicultural education programs in all U. S. schools, but with a focus on rural education. That includes an awareness or critical consciousness of one’s place and social identity as shaped by mainstream, dominant ideologies that move students from a place of alienation, marginalization, and hopelessness to a space that allows students to maintain their ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic identities.
This re-envisioning of multiculturalism applies not only to students in urban areas, but more so to the overlooked, seemingly homogeneous population of students attending rural schools if examining race, class, culture, identity, and economic issues. To that end, the presenter will briefly dispel the myths and assumptions of rural education by presenting data about the realities of rural education (demographic population including social status) and argue for teachers in rural schools to rethink their definition, and ultimately practice, of multiculturalism by offering a “renewed” vision of multiculturalism from a critical pedagogical perspective, or more specifically what is known as critical multiculturalism. An emphasis on “renewed” vision is highlighted because critical multiculturalism as a theoretical construct has long existed in the fields of Cultural Studies and Critical Theory and has been researched and practiced in urban and suburban schools, but not nearly implemented enough in rural schools in the United States.
The teaching and recognition of student identities from this wider, critical lens transforms technocratic teaching practices to ones where students feel valued, respected, and included and which ultimately, inspire strong sense of self identity and respect for differences. Again, the objective here is to broaden the scope of multiculturalism so it is not only studied from a monocultural lens, which can be detrimental to both white and non-white students attending schools in rural communities. Centering marginalized knowledge helps students understand how privileged knowledge, experiences, and histories have been constructed and considered the standard or the norm, thus insidiously shaping their own identities. A critical consciousness of one’s position in society in relation to the larger social context provides opportunities to question and critique power relations and calls out social and economic injustices. Critical multiculturalism structured around personal, social, cultural, economic, and political interests builds a sense of community and belonging, as well as brings the notion of democracy back into the classroom.

Author

• Priya Parmar, Brooklyn College - CUNY