How Rural School Leaders can Create a Culture of Care for Queer Students

• In Event: Out-Rooted and Rural: Research at the Intersection of Rural Education and Queer Identities

Abstract

Objectives
The challenges facing America’s youth today are unprecedented. With Queer identities and rights being used as political footballs, it is even more challenging to be growing up Queer. Individual school leaders have a significant impact in shaping the culture and direction of rural schools and their communities. As such, they can play an important role in achieving the goals of equity, inclusion, and social justice for all students, and in so doing create a safe and welcoming place for Queer students.

Theoretical framework
This paper features stories of Queer students and parents of Queer students attending rural schools, voices of long-serving rural superintendents, and the author’s experiences in striving to create a safe and welcoming place for Queer students as a rural education leader.

Methods and modes of inquiry
This paper unites three research methods: phenomenology, narrative, and autoethnography. Given the nature of the qualitative methods used, the author engages in rigorous reflexivity to critically reflect on how his position influences the research.

Data sources
The foundational data for this paper are multiple in-depth open-ended phenomenological research interviews conducted with 14 superintendents regarding their lived experience of serving a single rural school district for nine or more years (more than three times the national average for rural superintendents). Their experiences with creating a culture of care for all students is supplemented by data from narrative interviews with a rural Queer student, testimonials from parents of Queer students, documents provided by Queer students and their parents, and the author’s personal experiences working in rural school districts over nearly 20 years.

Results and substantiated conclusions
Queer students are an important part of the student body in rural schools. However, their presence, let alone their academic, physical, or socio-emotional needs, is often erased or ignored. Given the typically small size and favorable teacher to student ratio of rural schools, they provide the opportunity for faculty and staff to build meaningful relationships. School leaders have the power and potential to create a welcoming and safe place for Queer students in rural schools and communities

Scientific and scholarly significance
Every student who walks into the doors of every public school in America deserves dignity and respect. By their very nature, where small class sizes are the norm, where relationships are valued, and where there is a keen sense of place, rural schools have the potential to create spaces where Queer students can experience a sense of belonging and thrive. This work is based on the findings that by leading with love, communicating considerately, honoring the individual, and modeling empathy and understanding, rural school leaders can create a culture of care in which Queer students can flourish.

Author

• J. Wilfred Cwikiel, Beaver Island Community School