Being Open to Place

In this chapter I stress the importance that schools and teachers need to have a broad understanding of the rural context because of the social and cultural capital (see Chapter 3) that students in rural places bring to the school and to the classroom. These understandings provide opportunities for teachers. I also make problematic how some teachers, particularly from urban areas, may perceive rural locations stereotypically and make the case for this stereotypical vision to be replaced by a more realistic and place-orientated perspective. It does this using current research, which challenges commonsense assumptions about rural schools as well as providing generalities that can be starting places for place-based understandings.