Surveying the Field

Music education researchers in the United States have spent comparatively more effort researching urban and suburban settings than rural communities. To provide context for understanding subsequent chapters in this volume, this chapter systematically reviews research that examines the intersections of rurality, rural peoples, and practices of music teaching and learning in the United States, guided by three questions: How have researchers approached rural music education from a methodological standpoint? What themes have emerged across the literature? What topics or questions might benefit from future research? This review includes 40 scholarly journal articles, 15 dissertations, and 2 book chapters. A plurality of researchers used qualitative designs to structure their work, and the majority defined rurality through statistical definitions. Popular theoretical frameworks included social capital theory and place theory. Resource scarcity, prominence of the community, employment satisfaction, and teacher education and development were prominent themes across the literature pool. There remain opportunities for longitudinal studies, historical studies, and more rigorous connections to sociological and psychological theories in future research.