A teacher’s experiences of creating inclusive instructional strategies for rural students “living on the invisible side of the highway”

• In Event: Benefits and challenges of inclusive education in underserved communities: Applying cultural responsiveness to mitigate educational barriers

Proposal

Inclusive education in rural, low-resource areas faces unique challenges, particularly regarding technology access and socioeconomic factors. Problematic assumptions that technology access can be easy to obtain can further exacerbate these difficulties; it opened my eyes to realities I had not previously considered. In 2021, I worked as a teacher for a fully online K–12 school in a rural community that served students in marginalized areas. Some students entered the online school because their parents did not own a car to drive them. Due to the isolated location, they invariably required bus transportation. However, the bus only stopped at the neighborhood entrance, leaving primary students to walk over 2.4 km to ride the bus. Others enrolled because they heard the school offered students free laptops and mobile Internet hotspots. However, the community discovered the hotspots did not work as expected. The local wireless service pointed its tower away from this community and toward a more affluent one on the other side of the highway, creating a physical manifestation of the digital divide. With limited transportation, students also could not access the Internet or other resources from the local library. Therefore, even though I was an online teacher, I printed all their lessons on my home printer and then delivered the curriculum to their homes. It occurred to me that I was their sole link to obtaining a good education, and the power imbalance between the students and me was glaringly evident.

Purpose and Research Questions
This vignette is a grim reminder of the digital divide that marginalizes disadvantaged communities. I explored how the digital divide and socioeconomic challenges adversely impacted rural students' educational outcomes. I posed the following questions for this study:
RQ1: How could inclusive education support rural students in low-resource areas?
RQ2: How do my privileges and biases as an online teacher impact my interactions with students from marginalized communities?

Methodology and Reflexivity
Autoethnography is a qualitative research method that blends ethnography and autobiographical elements to critically analyze firsthand experiences in a broader socio-cultural context. As researcher and participant, I reflected on lived experiences through a critical lens to interpret cultural phenomena. Data collection occurred through journaling and logs. I analyzed the data employing thematic analysis and open coding.
Given the personal nature of autoethnography, I considered several ethical consequences, including how I benefited from the knowledge that others shared with me in confidence to author this report. Consequently, I engaged in reflexivity throughout the research process, a practice that involves thoughtfully examining my positionality and biases to ensure the integrity and ethical conduct of the study.

Discussion
The findings drawn from my experiences as a privileged white online educator in a marginalized rural area reveal how my initial perspective obscured the true depth of educational inequity. I falsely assumed that technology and resources would be available to everyone, widening the digital divide for the students I served. This study illuminates the challenges of providing equitable learning and suggests that developing creative instructional methods can support rural students.

Author

• Ericka Eppler, Ericka Eppler