"Knowing Where I've Been": A (Non)Rural English Language Arts Teacher Navigates Identity and Place-Responsive Pedagogy

• In Event: Teachers' Identities Across the Career Span

Abstract

Drawing on theories of place and identity, this paper explores how the place-connected identity development of Riley, an out-migrated (i.e., left the rural for the sub/urban) teacher working in a “rurban” (Stephens, 2019) district (i.e., where rural and urban cultures intersect), was intertwined with her instruction. Situated within a larger multiple case study, Riley’s case was illustrative of how participants used language to re-story their (non)rural identities in sub/urban classrooms. Analysis of interviews and artifacts revealed how taking up, rejecting, and reconfiguring aspects of her (non)rural identity impacted Riley’s instructional practices. Examining Riley’s identity development led to insights about place-responsive instruction and how teacher educators could consider place’s role in culturally sustaining (Paris, 2012) education.

Author

• Chea Lynn Parton, The University of North Texas