Rural Education for the Twenty-First Century

“This volume is a comprehensive examination of the understudied topic of rural education. The aptly placed emphasis in each chapter on the role of globalization and demographic change in contemporary rural America brings cohesiveness to the diversity of topics. The volume will likely have broad appeal to rural scholars and social scientists both within and beyond the field of educational research.”

—Julie N. Zimmerman, University of Kentucky

“Rural Education for the Twenty-First Century is the best recent statement on rural education available.”

—Frank M. Howell, Senior Research Associate, Office of Research and Policy Analysis, Board of Regents, University System of Georgia

“Rural Education for the Twenty-First Century is a must-read for any serious student of rural education. Co-editors Schafft and Jackson have brought together some of the preeminent scholars on rural education, and the result doubtless will be embraced as a significant and long-lasting contribution to the essential literature in this discipline.”

—Theodore Coladarci, University of Maine

“Many of us think of rural life as hard and insular, constructed of repertoires of behavior and patterns of reasoning that are socially and culturally obsolete. The notion of a peculiarly rural form of education seems patently self-defeating. Why prepare students for an outmoded existence that will inevitably be eliminated by the salutary forces of modernity? In sharp and convincing contrast, the editors of Rural Education for the Twenty-First Century present rural life as uniquely nurturing and capable of calling forth and developing the most humane and creative impulses of rural people. Rural education that enriches this process is a salutary institution, indeed. However, the organization and outcomes of the rural world are under siege by the omnipresent and overwhelming forces of globalization. Until I read Rural Education for the Twenty-First Century, I thought the destruction of the best of rural life was inevitable. Now, however, I can entertain a faint glimmer of hope, for which I am grateful.”

—Robert Bickel, Marshall University

“Because of [Rural Education for the Twenty-First Century's] high quality of research and its clear organization around three themes, the reader is able to understand and connect rural education issues, both their similarities and differences, with those of urban and suburban communities across the globe. This work and its organization will serve students well, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels, who may not be familiar with the theory and practices of rural education.”

—Arlie Woodrum Journal of Research in Rural Education