It’s Clear that Place is Important to Rural People. It’s Not Clear Why.

• In Event: Reimagining Rural Justice: Critical, Cultural, and Historical Perspectives on Education and Belonging

Abstract

This conceptual paper uses Cramer’s (2016) rural consciousness framework exploring rural perceptions of urban power to explore why critical place-based education (Gruenewald, 2003) is particularly salient in rural contexts. I argue that while (critical) place-based pedagogy is a mainstay of rural education scholarship, our field could benefit from intentionally discerning what makes this approach particularly powerful for rural teachers and students. This paper offers four reasons for critical place-based pedagogy’s salience in rural contexts: (1) It highlights the assets of rural places; (2) It supports students in processing local injustices; (3) It positions teachers and students to recognize the diversity of rural places; and (4) It provides a structure for rural students to learn about broader injustices and global perspectives.

Author

• Al Wood, Michigan State University