Rural Belonging in the Classroom

Much has been written about the experiences of rural students attending urban and suburban universities, where they often feel invalidated, misunderstood, and out-of-place. What can we learn from these experiences, which may be due to those universities’ geolocations and may be due to more universal aspects of the culture of academia. We are uniquely situated as a predominantly rural university serving a high proportion of rural students. This workshop, presented by Vermont State’s ROAD to Success in collaboration with the Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation, will explore best practices for teaching rural students.  

Participants in the workshop will: 

* Explore takeaways and lessons learned from the student voices panel event held on September 10th. 

The workshop will be centered around participants’ responses to the panel, and resources will be available to support learning of the following, should one or more fit the interests of the group: 

* Interrogate various viewpoints on rural students with an aim toward viewing rural experiences and identities as strengths and ensuring that higher education adapts to these strengths. 

* Consider the benefits of active learning and place-based pedagogy as a way to make academia more inclusive of rural students. 

* Discuss the hidden curriculum and its potential impact on rural students.

Please note that faculty participants will receive a stipend for their attendance and participation.