Assets of Place: Examining Preservice Teachers' Discourses of Place and Rurality

• In Event: Rural Teachers and Rural Teacher Preparation: Intersections With Place

Abstract

While research has examined preservice teachers’ perceptions toward rural schools, there is limited research on how they navigate their own discourses of rural communities. In this qualitative case study, we examine five preservice teachers’ discourses of place and rurality in a context-specific teacher preparation program. Findings suggest that preservice teachers’ discourses fluctuated between specific observations to broader concepts of place. Although preservice teachers described perceived challenges of rurality, they tended to do so without ascribing positive or negative judgments to them. When they demonstrated negative judgments, their discourses centered on poverty. We offer implications of this work for our responsibility as teacher educators who prepare teachers for schools and the broader rural contexts in which they will work.

Authors

• Emilie Mitescu Reagan, Claremont Graduate University

• Emilie Coppinger, University of New Hampshire

• Beth S Fornauf, Plymouth State University

• Bryan Mascio, University of New Hampshire

• Allison Tompkins, University of New Hampshire