Like most other Western countries, New Zealand has been undergoing considerable change in its rural communities for some decades. Alongside the changes in rural New Zealand, there has been what many commentators argue, a paradigm shift in education from a "front-loaded" model dominated by schooling to one of lifelong learning. This…

Describes one researcher's experiences as she interviewed rural families during a comprehensive survey of Johnson County, Tennessee. Discusses health care problems and needs, family support systems for the sick and elderly, fears about cancer risks, and the real picture of underemployment versus the official unemployment rate. (SV)

This book examines the nature of persistent poverty in two impoverished towns in the coalfields of Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta and a contrasting social milieu in a prosperous but remote rural mill town in northern New England. Drawing on 350 in-depth interviews and census data, the book analyzes the dynamics of poverty, politics, and…

Case studies of five rural Nebraska communities identified why some rural communities have survived economic trends stemming from the worst agricultural economic crisis since the Great Depression, while others seem to have surrendered. Background information on each community was gathered from available state, federal, and private information…

Planting by the signs of the moon, well digging, hewing logs, wood carving, knife making, bird trapping, and horsetrading are but a few of the aspects of Appalachian culture explored in "Foxfire 4." Like its predecessors, the volume was compiled by high school students at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School. Information on the cultural heritage…

A window into the customs, folklore, and cultural heritage of Appalachia is provided in this volume, the third in the series of "Foxfire" books. Compiled by high school students at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee school, it is based on personal interviews with long-time residents of Appalachian Georgia. In many cases the material is in the words of…