As someone who cares about the nuts and bolts of educational equity, it pains me that so many of those conversations are only focused around urban areas like Louisville and Lexington. That’s why I use my platform here to to argue for things like rural representation in teacher leadership and opportunity gaps in Applachia. Obviously, I was thrilled when I came…
Tag: Hillbilly Elegy
What Teachers Can and Can’t Learn From ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ Author J.D. Vance
In his provocative memoir “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis,” author J.D. Vance describes his childhood upbringing in Middletown, Ohio. Heavily influenced by his family’s Kentucky roots and their “hillbilly culture,” Vance uses his firsthand experiences with poverty to argue that these Appalachian, working-class values have ultimately impacted rural communities for the worse. That’s the…