Posts Tagged ‘teacher education’

Rethink, Reinvent, ReImagine

October 28th, 2009

Yesterday, while talking to partner organizations in the South Dakota Partnership for Teacher Quality, I had opportunity to revisit the Rural Learning Center’s tag line “ReImagine Rural.”

I explained to the group that we feel “ReImagine Rural” captures the essence of what the RLC believes about the future of rural communities:  that we need to pioneer a new future;  that this new future needs to be built on transformation — not revitalization; and that this process for rebuilding starts with re-thinking every aspect of our existence.  As Albert Einstein deftly stated decades ago,

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

This in turn reminded me of an open letter Karl Stauber, president of the of the Danville Regional Foundation, recently wrote to President Obama, pleading with the president to find a place for rural communities alongside his vision for urban places.

In the letter titled “Rural Economies must Change or Die,”  Stauber noted a struggle between the defenders of an “Old Economy” and those seeking to bring the “New Economy” to rural communities.  He also emphasized the need for rural communities to seek transformation, stating:

Rural communities used to be able to re-invent their competitive advantage every 50 to 75 years.  Now they must do this every 10 to 15 years.

Re-think. Re-invent.  Re-Imagine.  It’s interesting to think about attaching “re” to a lot of the verbs we use in community development.  Can it be that rural communities need to “re- everything” in our effort to rebuild Rural America?

Note: Karl Stauber is the former president of the Northwest Area Foundation, which helped launch the efforts of the Rural Learning Center with a 10-year partnership the foundation formed with Miner County Community Revitalization.

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