Volume 41 (2025)
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This study used phenomenological approaches to investigate the lived experiences of rural school counselors (RSCs) working during the COVID-19 pandemic. Information concerning how the pandemic has impacted RSCs is lacking. The current study was a part of a larger investigation aimed at understanding RSCs’ use of trauma-informed practices. The investigation engaged eight RSCs from across the United States, conducting interviews from September to November 2021, following the lifting of COVID-19 quarantine and virtual education protocols but still within the pandemic period. Participants were asked specific questions related to their perceptions and experiences working during the COVID-19 pandemic, their professional satisfaction as a result, how their students were affected, and how they experienced COVID-19’s impacts their rural communities and schools. Thematic analysis revealed four overarching themes regarding COVID-19’s impact on RSCs: (a) school counselor flexibility, exhaustion, and dissatisfaction; (b) rural student learning loss, trauma response, and social atrophy; (c) rural community stress, strain, and political tension; and (d) emotional fatigue, trauma, and grief. These findings provide a rich picture of RSCs’ lived experiences and begin to fill large research gaps concerning both RSCs and the impact of COVID-19 in rural spaces.
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This study examined the college transition experiences of rural Latinx undergraduate students in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The literature on rural students in higher education is limited, and much of it has been focused on White students, especially those in areas such as Appalachia, the Midwest, and the Southern United States, which has led to the exclusion of rural Latinx undergraduate students and how their rurality intersects with their race to inform their higher education experiences. This study adds to the literature by focusing on the college transition experiences of rural Latinx undergraduate students from the San Joaquin Valley to better understand how race and rurality impact students’ experiences in higher education. Fifteen students engaged in two two-hour-long pláticas, which were conducted utilizing Chicana/Latina feminist pláticas (conversations), for a total of 30 pláticas. Three critical findings were revealed: (a) rural Latinx undergraduate students encounter academic challenges based on prior K–12 rural schooling, (b) they experienced racial microaggressions as they navigated unfamiliar racial dynamics on campus, (c) the rural Latinx undergraduate students felt socially disconnected from wealth and urban Latinx peers. These findings revealed the unique challenges that rural Latinx undergraduate students face in higher education.
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Given recent anti-Queer legislation across the United States and the 16-year gap since Gray’s Out in the Country: Youth, Media, and Queer Visibility in Rural America, this literature review describes the intersections of Queerness and rurality in K–12 educational spaces. Hallinger’s process for review provides a framework to analyze the selected articles. Based on the search criteria, nine peer-reviewed, empirical journal articles published between 2012 and 2022 were selected. These articles were analyzed for rural Queer salience and how they discuss the intersection of Queerness and rural education. From the analysis, three themes emerged related to victimization and safety, teacher and administrator attitudes, and school-provided Queer resources. This review concludes with a discussion and implications for change section that educators and researchers may use to further investigate the intersections of rural education and Queer identities.
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To support preservice teacher education and in-service professional development for rural social studies teachers, I examine the degree to which rural teachers, students, and communities are reflected in social studies education research. I first developed a theoretical framework for analyzing the rural research quality in the articles I found. I then identified 70 research articles in social studies education that intersect with rural education. Using my theoretical framework, I used content analysis methods to review these 70 articles and classify them based on (a) each article’s quality of rural analysis and (b) the facets of social studies education it examined (e.g. world history, elementary, economics). Based on these analyses, I provide several suggestions for social studies education researchers looking to conduct meaningful rural research. I also outline several facets of social studies education in need of (more) urgent investigation in rural contexts. In addition, I discuss a few areas in need of future consideration by rural education researchers looking to improve the quality of rural education scholarship more broadly.