Standing Up for Justice: Stories of Culturally Responsive Teachers Working in Rural Communities

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: (Re)Claiming Space: Critical Approaches to Race, Capitalism, and Inequities in Rural Spaces

Abstract

Established systems and structures that continue to reproduce patterns of injustice threaten economic and sociocultural fabric of the U.S. Learning from ways in which experienced teachers in rural communities have channeled their resources to respond to social inequities can provide valuable lessons for teachers and teacher educators. Six teachers with extensive teaching experience responded to a series of interviews and questionnaires that focused on reasons they became teachers, factors that contribute to their commitment to teaching, their goals, social concerns, and social activism. Satisfaction from teaching and social activism were viewed as important factors in maintaining their motivation to teach and remain in the teaching profession. Finding have important implications for teacher education programs.

Author

• Ali Borjian, San Francisco State University