Books as portals: using place to understand rural students’ individuated reading experiences

ABSTRACT

Much has been written about the instructional insights illuminated by viewing texts as windows through which readers can view the experiences of those who are different from them in some way, mirrors through which they can see themselves reflected, and sliding glass doors through which they can step to experience a world different from their own. However, discussion of this metaphor’s implications for rural students is notably missing from the literature. Coupling this framework with place-based pedagogy, this inquiry focuses on the insights and experiences of ninth-grade rural students as they reflected on texts. After examining written reflections and transcripts from classroom discussions, the authors found that students made meaningful connections and built empathy through texts they individually identified as windows and sliding glass doors. Mirror texts were empowering – except when students did not feel seen in the literature they read. The authors conclude with instructional recommendations based on findings.

KEYWORDS:

• Rural students
• unique positionalities
• diverse literature
• place-based pedagogy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Pseudonyms are used for the school, students, and teacher; students selected their own pseudonyms and indicated their pronouns.

2. Reference omitted for anonymity of school.

3. See Azano (2011) for a description of how anti-gay rhetoric is sometimes predicated in rural places/schools in the U.S.

4. See Möller (2016) for a discussion of the different frameworks Rudine Sims Bishop has introduced across her long career that address the variety of ways diversity is represented in children’s literature.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sean Ruday

Sean Ruday is an associate professor and the program coordinator of English education at Longwood University. His scholarship focuses on writing instruction, mentor text use, and equitable literacy instruction.

Amy Price Azano

Amy Price Azano is an associate professor of rural education and adolescent literacy in the School of Education at Virginia Tech. Her scholarship focuses on issues of educational equity for rural learners.

Rachelle Kuehl

Rachelle Kuehl is a postdoctoral associate in the School of Education at Virginia Tech. As a reading specialist and former elementary teacher, her research is concentrated on children's literature, writing instruction, and early literacy practices.