Looking for My Rural Identity, Finding Community and Place
Previously in my academic work I have carefully considered how my identities as white, middle class, and female have impacted the ways in which I prepare teachers who come from similar backgrounds as myself. In this self study, I intended to examine to what extent my identification as "rural" might contribute to my work with those who experience inequities as a result of their being positioned as rural. The themes of community and place figure prominently in what I learned while on a yearlong sabbatical in Australia. My understanding of my rural identity has been informed by the importance of place in building community and connecting to rural contexts. The chapter concludes with how I applied my findings to my practice in the Rural Teacher Residency program in Chico, California.