Gemini Notebook created the image above based on the lyrics for the song “Coat of Many Colors” written by Dolly Parton.
What a Country Legend Teaches Us About Access, Belonging, and Community
Many of us walked into our classrooms or opened our online classes today with a heavy heart. On Tuesday, August 25, 2026, America lost one of its most cherished originals when Dolly Parton passed away in Nashville at the age of 80. Known universally as the “Queen of Country,” Dolly ruled popular culture for six decades with an irrepressible spirit, deep empathy, and a sharp wit.
But beneath the rhinestone-studded gowns and the iconic blond wigs lay the mind of a master educator. Dolly was, quintessentially, a uniter of people. She was a rare figure who transcended our highly polarized cultural divides. In a landscape where it is increasingly difficult to find common ground, Dolly reminded us of what is possible when we lead with love.
As we reflect on her passing, we find ourselves thinking about how her life’s work aligns beautifully with the CTLE’s commitment to Access, Belonging, and Community. If you are looking to renew your teaching energy, connect deeper with your students, and bring the instructional excitement back to your classroom this semester, Dolly’s legacy provides a brilliant roadmap.
- Access: Removing Barriers & Scaffolding Opportunities – Dolly knew structural barriers intimately. Born “dirt poor” in a one-room cabin in East Tennessee, her father paid the delivering doctor with a sack of cornmeal. Throughout her life, Dolly strategically deployed her wealth to systematically remove barriers for others – whether by mailing over 200 million free books through her Imagination Library or paying full tuition and book fees for Dollywood employees seeking college degrees.
Faculty Takeaway: Access is proactive and flexible. In your syllabus, design Universal Design for Learning (UDL) options. Ensure your materials are accessible and low-barrier, recognizing that flexibilities in course design are active choices that enable all of us to learn and grow equitably.
- Belonging: Mindful Trust & Authentic Presence – People often criticized Dolly early in her career, telling her she looked “cheap” and advising her to tone down her look. She doubled down, famously declaring she patterned her look after the “town tramp” and refusing to compromise her identity. Beyond her own persona, she was a fierce champion of the marginalized, actively supporting the gay and trans communities, and writing harrowing songs about the victimhood of women in patriarchal structures. She created a space where everyone felt valued and supported exactly as they were.
Faculty Takeaway: Belonging is rooted in recognizing the dignity and value of every individual. Inject your own authentic personality, eccentricities, and passions into your teaching. In doing so, you invite students to bring their whole, authentic selves into the classroom, creating a safe space for vulnerable skills development.
- Community: Camaraderie & Collective Determination – At the heart of Dolly’s music was her community. In her beloved song “Coat of Many Colors”, she sang of a jacket stitched from small, small rags of many colors, sewn together by her mother with love. Separately, the rags were worthless; bound together, they made her “rich as I could be”. Dolly modeled this collective determination through her Dollywood Foundation’s “Buddy Program,” where seventh- and eighth-graders pledged to support each other in graduating, dropping Tennessee Sevier County’s high school dropout rate from 35% to 6%.
Faculty Takeaway: Community is built on shared determination and peer support. Host events, icebreakers, or group tasks that build camaraderie and peer connection. When students feel their success is reliant on and supported by one another, we model the true innovative spirit of higher education.
Dolly’s Core Strategic Blueprint: Nurturing the Human Element
- Authentic Instructor Presence: Stop teaching like a textbook. Share your passion, laugh at your mistakes, and show up as a real human being.
- Student Voice & Agency: Give students choice over assignment delivery. Let them co-create some classroom policies and project structures to build ownership.
- Celebrating Small Wins: Pause to celebrate incremental student progress, express gratitude, and share mutual successes.
- Empathy-First Connection: Reframe defensive questions (e.g., changing “Do you have questions?” to “What questions do we have?”) to reduce performance anxiety and build trust.
- Active & Multimodal Connection: Keep the curriculum active. Disrupt class tension on day one by playing welcoming music as students walk through the door. Perhaps, your favorite Dolly Parton song!
Dolly Parton may have left the stage, but her ambition, empathy, and songs still burn brightly. By bringing her radical spirit of access, belonging, and community into our classrooms, we don’t just teach – we will find our instructional excitement!
Resources
- Smarsh, S. (2020) She Come By it Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs. Simon and Schuster. (An exceptional study of working-class feminism and the lived wisdom of Dolly’s rural community)
- Dolly Parton’s America (NPR Podcast hosted by Jad Abumrad). (A brilliant exploration of Dolly as a cultural ambassador and a rare unifying force in polarized times)
- The “Buddy Program” Alleviation Study (University of Tennessee). (Research showing how unconditional relational and cash support drastically reduces poverty and drop-out rates in educational pipelines)
ChatGPT and Gemini were used to create this blog post. (Image, brainstorming, outlining, and final copy edit)
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