The ball's in your court: the effect of sports in rural English classrooms

Abstract

Education in rural areas is affected by the place in which the education takes place. This affects how students interact with the community as well as the classroom. The most visible way in which the community interacts with the school is through spectating at high school games. The author interviews four English teachers in rural eastern Montana to explore the ways in which community, school, English classrooms and sports interact. Educators noted that while sports had many benefits, there was no sports literature being explicitly taught or being directly incorporated into the classroom. Furthermore, absences caused by school athletics create a tension between academic needs and extracurricular expectations. These absences are directly affecting the ways in which English teachers create their curriculum. The author offers next steps for teachers looking to create a connection between classroom and community through athletics.