Rural or Urban Perspective

Perspective . . .

It has been a week since my return from New York City.

One theme that keeps entering my mind is that of perspective. As hard as it is for me to fathom what it must be like to teach in an inner-city school, I imagine it must be as difficult for inner-city educators to fathom a rural district. Much of the talk I hear and read about the condition of education in our nation centers around the urban schools.
Pondering this today prompted me to check a few statistics. . . by sheer numbers I can imagine why us rural folks must seem like a blip on the radar. For instance, in New York City alone there is a student population of 1.1 million in public schools. In Iowa, the number is 468,689 public school pupils as reported in October 2010. Wow. Perspective . . .

And then I wonder, does size matter? People are people, right?

But context does matter. Having a sense of place and knowing that place is central to our being. Certainly there are essential features that exist for educators that are the same no matter which setting of teaching and there are essential characteristics of students no matter which location they may be. But the subtle nuances that influence life in a city versus life in a community of eleven hundred people are distinct and matter; particular to those that live in these areas.

Teacher turnover is an issue I hear about in both urban and rural districts but I wonder how similar the reasons for the turnover might be? I heard those at the conference speak that in urban districts much of that turnover is due to burn-out and not being necessarily prepared for the realities faced in the classroom. That this becomes a retention (to the field) issue. In a recent conversation with an Iowa superintendent of a rural district where educators have two years of mentoring and induction before being permanently licensed, the issue is more of turnover due to wanting a life in a bigger community.

No matter the reason, no matter the location, turnover is an issue for the heart of education: our students. When turnover is high we lose consistency. Our children deserve better. So the vantage point of rural or urban perspective may not be heart of the matter at all. Instead, perhaps it is how we as educators embrace our context and offer our perspective to those we teach.