Abstract
This case study explored the development of a rural cradle-to-career network with a dual focus on the initial mobilization of network members and subsequent adaptations made to maintain mobilization, while meeting local needs. Data sources included interviews with network members, observations of meetings, and documentary evidence. Network-based social capital facilitated mobilization. Where networks were absent and where distrust and different values were evident, mobilization faltered. Three network adaptations were discovered: Special rural community organizing strategies, district-level action planning, and a theory of action focused on out-of-school factors. All three were attributable to the composition of mobilized stakeholders and this network’s rural social geography. These findings illuminate the importance of social geography in the development and advancement of rural cradle-to-career networks.
Highlights
How can rural schools meet the educational, economic, social, and civic needs of their communities in the face of standardized educational reforms and increasing globalization? How can rural schools and communities work together to revitalize their economies? how do they do so in the face of the out-migration of highly educated and socially connected youth? How do collaborative efforts emerge in places with significant social isolation and exclusion of particular groups? How do community and organization members mobilize in the development of a rural cradle-to-career network? How does mobilization impact the network structure and development of a local theory of action development?
This study set out to understand how rural community members are mobilized for the creation of a cradle-to-career network
The findings of this study suggest that mobilization of a cradle-to-career network in a rural area draws on a variety of processes and strategies that reflect rural challenges, and on the hybrid nature of cradle-to-career networks
Summary
How can rural schools meet the educational, economic, social, and civic needs of their communities in the face of standardized educational reforms and increasing globalization? How can rural schools and communities work together to revitalize their economies? how do they do so in the face of the out-migration of highly educated and socially connected youth? How do collaborative efforts emerge in places with significant social isolation and exclusion of particular groups? How do community and organization members mobilize in the development of a rural cradle-to-career network? How does mobilization impact the network structure and development of a local theory of action development?These questions have significance for rural communities found in every state in the US, and in other nations where the flow towards urbanization puts many communities at risk for continued population and economic decline. The scope of these issues in the US is illustrated by Census data that show rural communities make up 14% of the population [1] This qualitative case study of a rural cradle-to-career network in the United States was structured to yield actionable knowledge regarding members’ mobilization and the network’s, place-based adaptations. Because this network was one of the most advanced rural networks affiliated with the national Strive Together network, it provided a timely opportunity to understand how the network developed in context, starting with its initial formation and continuing with subsequent developmental phases.
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