By Brooke Thomas and Nick Garcia
From July 24-28th, 2024, Dr. Nick Garcia represented the Busload of Books Research Team at the Rural Sociological Society’s 86th annual meeting in Madison, Wisconsin. Pictured is Dr. Garcia and RSS councilwoman Paige Kelly talking about their research between sessions. I have asked Dr. Garcia some reflective questions about this experience, and the future of the research he presented. See his responses below.
Q: Have you attended an RSS Conference in the past? If yes, how was this experience similar or different from previous years (themes, presentation types, etc.)?
NG: I'm a regular at RSS Conferences. I didn't realize until you asked, but this was my 10th Annual Meeting of the Rural Sociological Society that I've attended. I was a very inexperienced and self-conscious grad student during my first conferences. I was guided primarily by curiosity and frustrated at how little data and study surrounded topics I was most passionate about. These days, I've found myself in a different position where I represent an entire research team and take advantage of spending a week with experts in my field that are eager to see how our work can make a meaningful impact.
Q: Can you describe the themes/topics discussed in your presentation? How did you prepare for this presentation?
NG: The paper I presented concentrated on something rural sociologists confront regularly: That limited study of rural students in prevalent research has left non-metropolitan schools to fend for themselves. Rural sociologists refer to an "urban bias," where there's an assumption that dense metropolitan areas are an anticipated norm by which we understand the world. I tend to prepare by thinking about how cross-place comparisons highlight how specific locations lend themselves to different conditions. So, in preparation for the conference in Madison, Wisconsin, I tried to gather background data reporting how incredibly diverse schools were across Wisconsin. Madison and Milwaukee, for instance, receive significantly different support than Port Washington or Billion. Population sizes, poverty, and political climate (in relation to schools) vary quite a bit, and I think those do a lot to highlight how the national research tour did something to capture schools that are typically left out of the conversation.
What were your findings? What was the best way to present these findings to an audience?
NG: Many have described an "Aspiration Gap" where children forego higher education or high paying careers, losing motivation to move beyond conditions of local environments. The most prevalent studies track students during the years surrounding graduation, identifying how growing up in impoverished places conditions students to temper their expectations and plans. This often explains education and career trajectories as a matter of motivation. Rural sociologists are accustomed to harmful beliefs about "backwards" or "out of touch" rural people that make reference to personal motivation explaining intergenerational poverty. In our analysis of rural students, we found that the comparatively lower higher ed enrollment and incomes of rural places did not correspond with lower enthusiasm and motivations for literacy. To the contrary, we found that schools in rural districts reported higher scores than metropolitan districts, specifically describing a desire to read more and write more in school. Moreover, we found that their scores were higher in spite of households having fewer books at home. Between their initial enthusiasm and improvements in scores after the Busload of Books visit, the notion of rural children lacking an interest in literacy seems unfounded.
What do you hope your audience took away from your research? What kind of impact do you hope your presentation had on rural Sociology?
NG: I hope that the audience recognized two things: First, that rural kids weren't disinterested in reading and writing! They were enthusiastic and felt motivated to perform more literacy-based activities in school. Allegations to the contrary seemed to play upon longstanding stereotypes about rural people without any meaningful consideration of student attitudes. But second, I hoped that audiences would see further evidence that author and illustrator visits make meaningful differences for kids, regardless of where our students are located. The notion that these kinds of events should be reserved as perks for wealthier districts leaves the rest without interaction, excitement, and connection with books.
After giving this presentation, what do you hope the future of your research looks like? What would you like to achieve?
NG: I hope the future of this research can connect schools, teachers, librarians, and parents to resources to advocate for their districts. I'd like everyone to know the extent to which our children experience inequalities in their education, and that opportunities should be extended for all kids to experience. I want to challenge a system where a student's zip code determines whether they're believed as "motivated" or "enthusiastic" readers who are deserving of educational support.
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