Course Description
Course Description: Educational policy frequently treats rural schools as standardized factories designed to output workers for a global marketplace. Reclaiming Rural Ed: Teaching at the Heart of the Community explicitly rejects this economic framework. Instead, this course examines the rural school as a vital civic anchor—a space of collective safety, mutual care, and democratic life.
Drawing from contemporary research, place-conscious pedagogy, and asset-based community development, students will analyze how rural schools generate social cohesion and civic capacity. Educators will use their own school buildings and towns as live sites of inquiry. Through weekly fieldwork, data collection, and town-based action research, students will design a practical blueprint to position their schools as resilient resources that preserve, defend, and sustain local rural communities.
Audience: Public school educators and administrators with a Bachelor’s Degree
Session Information
All other work with be asynchronous.
Instructors
Sean Robinson, Ed.D.
Sean Robinson, Ed.D.
Sean Robinson grew up with his grandparents in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, working at his family’s Bed and Breakfast. From an early age, school wasn’t his thing–he graduated 14th in a class of 33, and went to college part-time. From the beginning, Sean had an interest in the place around him–what had once been a Mill town and transformed into a tourist destination. After coming to education roundabout through social work, he’s worked in rural communities on both sides of the Connecticut River, focusing on supporting the unique needs of rural learners. He holds a EdD in Education with an emphasis on rural education and community development.
Additional Content Area
Course Goals:
• Provide a theoretical framework for understanding the school as a civic, cultural, and social sanctuary rather than an economic workforce pipeline.
• Examine the mechanics of social capital—specifically bonding, bridging, and linking networks—within rural education systems.
• Analyze how schools can build reciprocal relationships with rural families and local organizations to protect communities from displacement and economic instability.