Rural Science Education: Valuing Local Knowledge

Whether playing outdoors or working on the farm, rural children acquire science and engineering skills throughout their daily lives. Although 11.4 million children in the United States grow up in rural areas, compared to 14.6 million in urban areas, relatively little attention is given to rural science education. This article demonstrates that rural contexts can be rich environments for learning science. Issues facing rural schools, the unique knowledge base and learning needs of rural children, and effective strategies focused on valuing and using local knowledge in science education are discussed. Implementing these strategies across students, teachers, and communities can increase rural students' access to, engagement in, and achievement in science. These can open doors to more science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers for rural students and enhance diversity across the STEM spectrum.