When conceptualizing how teachers impact Middle Appalachia, there are usually two narratives that become apparent: one that depicts Appalachia’s commitment to community empowerment, and one that depicts Appalachia as extremely desperate. The two videos below help illustrate the phenomenon.

In this first promo video for Teach For America: Appalachia, teachers discuss how important their work is for the region. They comment on the warmness of people, the kind treatment they received, and they also affirm some of the more positive stereotypes associated with Appalachia.

In this second promo video for Teach for America: Appalachia, teachers are being depicted as first-hand drivers of change. The clip begins by humanizing many of the teachers and students that frequent these schools, and there seems to even be a romanticization of Appalachia given the background music and depicted narratives. However, I once again problematize this video as it completely ignores the struggles that come along with living in Appalachia. 

While important, these videos completely negate the struggles associated with being a teacher in Appalachia. In the article, Teacher Retention in Appalachian Schools: Evidence from Kentucky, Cowen et Al investigate teacher attrition from Appalachian school districts over nearly twenty years of data.

Cowen et al begin by stating that the majority—nearly 56%—of public school districts in the U.S. are located in rural areas. While city-located districts are larger in terms of total student population compared to rural districts (30% versus 20%), the number of public school students attending rural schools is non-trivial: over 10.3 million students attend rural public schools, and almost half of these students attend in either “distant” or “remote” rural areas (Cowen et Al, 2012). Also of importance is the relationship between rural areas and poverty. In the 10 states with the highest rates of poverty, 57% of school districts and 36% of students are located in rural areas.

Sources:

Teach For America: Appalachia (2013, June 06). Retrieved May 08, 2019, from https://youtu.be/VnsS6uPJGng.

Teach For America – Appalachia (2016, December 13). Retrieved May 08, 2019, from https://youtu.be/UOn7V3ky0hc.

Cowen, J. M., Butler, J. S., Fowles, J., Streams, M. E., & Toma, E. F. (2012). Teacher retention in Appalachian schools: Evidence from Kentucky. Economics of Education Review, 31(4), 431-441.