Illuminating a Path Toward Stronger Rural Social Studies Scholarship

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 9:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: Narratives of Place and Purpose: Exploring the Intersection of Local History and Social Studies (Table 1)

Abstract

To support pre-service teacher education and in-service professional development for rural social studies teachers, this study examined the quantity and quality of recent research in rural social studies education. I first developed a theoretical framework for analyzing the rural research quality of social studies literature. I then used that framework to analyze 55 academic research articles in rural social studies education, categorizing scholarship based on both the quality of rural analysis and based on the quantity of rural research in various facets of social studies education (e.g. world history, elementary, economics). Based on these analyses, suggestions are provided for social studies researchers looking to conduct rural research and several areas of need are identified for future rural social studies research.

Author

• Al Wood, Michigan State University