Rural Science Education

A variety of challenges are inherent in bringing together the research literature on rural science education. Perhaps the most significant challenge arises from the recognition that rural science education is not easily defined, and that it is not always easy to discern what is and what is not research on rural science education. In the same way, it has not been possible to create a useful and generalizable characterization of what is a rural school or even a rural place. Characterizations abound; finding agreement among these characterizations presents a problem. This enigmatic quality of ruralness is reflected in the way that popular writers and scholars describe not only schools, but also rural people and the places they inhabit.