BY EMILY ADERHOLD & DR. DANIELLE LILLGE
Amber Dlugosh serves as the librarian at Bolivar High School (Bolivar, MO) and is a co-coordinator of the school’s teacher-led reading initiative. Drawing from her research at MSU, Duglosh continues to promote voluntary reading practices among students, and the importance of Lexile-based instruction.
Amber completed a thesis, “Student Contributions Within Place Conscious Pedagogy Help Maximize Rural Potential,” which was chaired by Dr. Catherine English with readers Dr. Danielle Lillge and Dr. Linda Moser. Using reflective and observational data from a rural high school English classroom’s endeavor to launch a community-wide online literary magazine, Dlugosh’s study sought to document, describe, and analyze the impact of place-conscious pedagogy. Though place-based instruction offers obvious benefits to students and communities, the study sought to document and analyze what transpires when students both glean from the community as an academic stimulus and contribute to it via academic success. Focusing on a rural, predominantly Caucasian school district, the study tracks four sections of a senior level writing course, with 64 students agreeing to have their personal contributions included in observational data.
It can be asserted that place-conscious curriculum choices that involve student contributions to the community prove to have significant potential for rural schools. Dlugosh observed a significant decrease in student apathy, academic gains within the content area, disarmed negative stereotypes, financial gains via community partnerships, a maximization of roles through various avenues of collaboration, and a cultivated sense of sustainability within the school and community. For rural districts, these findings should encourage innovative practices that empower teachers to combat unique obstacles by uniting the community and its students.
Amy Sampson teaches Dual Credit English, Advanced Placement (AP) Literature and Reading at Monett High School (Monett, MO). She also teaches at Crowder College. Sampson is training for an Ironman Triathlon and developing a podcast highlighting her travels to every state and 20 countries.
Amy completed a degree paper, “We are Witnesses: The Holocaust Beyond the Textbook,” which was chaired by Dr. Catherine English with Dr. Mara Cohen as reader.