Episode #12: The Rural Identity in K-12 Education Artwork

The Rural College Student Experience

The Rural College Student Experience is the only podcast dedicated exclusively to centering rural college student voices in broader conversations about higher education access and equity. Hosted by Dr. Matt Newlin (www.mattnewlin.com), each episode will feature a co-host who is a currently enrolled student from a rural community. Co-hosts will share their perspectives on higher education and the needs of students from rural backgrounds. Each episode will also feature a guest who will bring additional insight and perspectives to the rural college student experience. Guests are researchers, scholars, practitioners, or counselors whose work focuses primarily on rural students in college. Follow RCSE on Twitter at @rcsepod. The Rural College Student Experience is presented in partnership with Believe in Students (www.believeinstudents.org). Believe in Students is the nation’s only non-profit organization focused exclusively on helping college students to meet their basic needs.

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The Rural College Student Experience

Episode #12: The Rural Identity in K-12 Education

November 18, 2022 • Matt Newlin • Season 2 • Episode 12

Welcome to Episode 12 of the Rural College Student Experience. Today, co-host Sara Wiggington joins host Dr. Matt Newlin to talk about the rural identity in K-12 spaces and how that can impact rural students' postsecondary experiences. Sara is a Master’s degree student at Purdue University who also teaches 4th grade at Green Meadows Intermediate in Frankfort, Indiana. Sara attended Ball State University as an undergraduate and just completed her 21st year of teaching in both rural and urban districts. During our conversation she shares wonderful insight and knowledge about the rural identity in K-12 spaces and the transition to college for rural learners.

Sara and Matt are joined by guest Dr. Chea Parton, a farm girl and a former rural student and English teacher. She is currently a visiting assistant professor of curriculum and instruction at Purdue University where she advocates for rural representation in her teacher education classes. Dr. Parton created her website, Literacy In Place, and her YouTube series/podcast Reading Rural YAL to help disrupt stereotypical notions of rurality and to help rural teachers get rural books in the hands of rural readers. You can follow Dr. Parton on Twitter (@readingrural) and Instagram (@dr_chea_parton).

Please be sure to subscribe to the Rural College Student Experience wherever you download your podcasts so you’ll be notified when a new episode is available. Also, follow us on Twitter (@rcsepod) and our partners Believe in Students (@believestudents).