Academic literature on the topic 'Rural australian schools'
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Journal articles on the topic "Rural australian schools"
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Allen, Kelly-Ann, Margaret L. Kern, Dianne Vella-Brodrick, and Lea Waters. "Understanding the Priorities of Australian Secondary Schools Through an Analysis of Their Mission and Vision Statements." Educational Administration Quarterly 54, no. 2 (February 20, 2018): 249–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0013161x18758655.
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Purpose: The vision or mission statement of a school outlines the school’s purpose and defines the context, goals, and aspirations that govern the institution. Using vision and mission statements, the present descriptive research study investigated trends in Australian secondary schools’ priorities. Research Methods: A stratified sample of secondary school vision and mission statements across 308 schools from government, independent, and Catholic sectors in Victoria, Australia, was analyzed using qualitative and quantitative approaches. Findings: Academic achievement was the most common theme, with school belonging and mental health promotion themes cited by over half of the schools. School belonging was emphasized more often by Catholic schools compared with independent and government schools, and by rural schools compared with urban schools. Implications: Australian schools are seemingly adopting a dual purpose: to be academic institutions and well-being enhancing institutions. Understanding the priorities of schools using vision and mission statements may guide researchers, administrators, and teachers about how to better meet the academic and psychological needs of the students. The priorities of schools also have implications for how research in this area is communicated to schools, and this study provides a method for capturing these priorities.
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Playford, Denese E., and Edwina Cheong. "Rural Undergraduate Support and Coordination, Rural Clinical School, and Rural Australian Medical Undergraduate Scholarship: rural undergraduate initiatives and subsequent rural medical workforce." Australian Health Review 36, no. 3 (2012): 301. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ah11072.
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Background. This study examined postgraduate work after an undergraduate clinical year spent in the Rural Clinical School of Western Australia (RCSWA), compared with 6 weeks Rural Undergraduate Support and Coordination (RUSC)-funded rural experience in a 6-year undergraduate medical course. Rural background, sex and Rural Australian Medical Undergraduate Scholarship (RAMUS)-holding were taken into account. Methods. University of Western Australia undergraduate data were linked by hand with postgraduate placements to provide a comprehensive dataset on the rural exposure history of junior medical practitioners working in Western Australia between 2004 and 2007. Results. Participation in the RCSWA program was associated with significantly more postgraduate year one rural work than RUSC placement alone (OR = 1.5, CI 0.97–2.38). The RCSWA workforce effect increased at postgraduate year two (OR = 3.0, CI 1.6484 to 5.5935 relative to RUSC). Rural-origin practitioners who chose the RCSWA program were more likely than other rural-origin practitioners to take rural rotations in both postgraduate years. RAMUS holders’ choice in relation to the RCSWA program predicted later rural work. There were no effects of sex. Conclusions. Rural initiatives, in particular the Rural Clinical School program, are associated with postgraduate rural choices. The real impact of these data rely on the translation of early postgraduate choices into long-term work commitments. What is known about the topic? Specific training of rural graduates is strongly related to subsequent rural workforce. In addition, rural educational placements affect medical students’ intentions to practise rurally. Retrospective data from rural relative to urban general practitioners link rural background, rural undergraduate experience and rural postgraduate experience with rural work. What does this paper add? Much of the Australian prospective outcomes research has looked at workforce intentions of graduates, or the workforce outcomes of small graduate cohorts of Rural Clinical Schools. This paper followed nearly 500 graduates by name through to their PGY1 and PGY2 workforce decisions. As this cohort comprised 80% of three completely graduated MBBS years, these data validly represent the outcome of a medical school which is comparable to all Australian medical schools in its RUSC, Rural Clinical School and RAMUS recipients. The paper provides the first peer-reviewed outcomes data for the RAMUS scholarship program. What are the implications for practitioners? Rural supervision of medical students is an effective way to recruit new workforce. The longer students are supervised in rural settings, the better. But undergraduate programs need to be linked with postgraduate initiatives that take graduates of medical student initiatives into vocational programs able to deliver a trained rural workforce.
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White, Simone, Graeme Lock, Wendy Hastings, Maxine Cooper, Jo-Anne Reid, and Bill Green. "Investing in Sustainable and Resilient Rural Social Space: Lessons for Teacher Education." Australian and International Journal of Rural Education 31, no. 2 (July 24, 2021): 46–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v31i2.310.
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Attracting and retaining effective education leaders and teaching staff for regional, rural and remote schools in Australia is a major sustainability and quality issue facing every State and Territory. It is also a major concern in pre-service teacher education, particularly for those universities which have a commitment to rural and regional areas. There is a strategic link between teacher education and the sustainability of rural communities with earlier suggestions (White & Reid, 2008, p. 1) highlighting that ―healthy rural communities may be supported via reform of the ways in which teacher education prepares graduates for teaching in rural schools. Likewise, the proposition is made in this paper that the relationship is importantly reciprocal and that, in turn, healthy rural communities and “successful rural schools†can inform and help reform teacher education and professional learning through the insights gathered into the ways in which rural education leaders and teaching staff work closely with their school communities. In this paper we draw specifically from the research findings of a three-year Australian Research Council funded project (2008-2010) of schools and communities where sustainable practices around staff recruitment and retention were identified to explore this reciprocal relationship. The paper will firstly discuss the context of the study, its method and conceptual framework, and then focus in particular on the emerging themes from the twenty case-studies across Australia. Themes discussed include the important linking between rural school leadership and community renewal; the possibilities of developing school-university partnerships to sustain the rural workforce; and the need for social and creative enterprise to be acknowledged as important work of rural teachers and leaders. The paper concludes with the implications of these themes in terms of better preparing a future rural teacher workforce.
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Roberts, Philip, Natalie Downes, and Jo-Anne Reid. "Teacher Education for a Rural-Ready Teaching Force: Swings, Roundabouts, and Slippery Slides?" Australian Journal of Teacher Education 47, no. 3 (March 2022): 94–111. http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2022v47n3.6.
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The preparation of teachers for rural schools has been a significant focus of research for many decades. In this paper we update previous reports of the extent of Initial Teacher Education courses that prepare teachers for rural schools in Australia. We found that despite significant and continued calls for rural teacher education, there are still very few rural-teaching units offered in teacher education courses, and there are no courses at all that seek this as an explicit outcome. As the Australian Professional Standards for Teaching claim the importance of teachers understanding students and their contexts, we argue that effective teacher education must not only focus on understanding rurality, and developing awareness of the affordances of place, but must also address the pedagogical requirements for present day rural teaching. We argue that the lack of teacher preparation for locational, geographic forms of social difference works to produce and sustain educational disadvantage when these intersect with economic and cultural difference. On this basis we call for government to address this major failing in the provision of education for Australian children through policy change to teaching standards.
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Davies, James Robert, and John Halsey. "Principals as Protagonists: Practices Beneficent for Indigenous Education in Rural Schools." Australian and International Journal of Rural Education 29, no. 1 (April 20, 2022): 101–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v29i1.190.
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The participation and performance of Indigenous students in Australia's schools is below that of other students and is a matter of national concern. Evidence suggests that the impact on student learning of school principals' leadership is significant. What then, can school principals do to improve schooling outcomes for Indigenous students? Herein, we discuss research that investigated school principals' professional practices associated with their leadership of Indigenous education in rural, regional and remote (RRR) schools. Qqualitative research was undertaken using interpretive methodologies and document analysis techniques. Data collected in the period 2012-2014 through evaluations of Indigenous education in thirty one Australian primary, secondary and combined schools, from diverse RRR locations, was used for the research. Principals' professional practices described in the 'Australian Professional Standard for Principals' provided the overall framing for analysis of the data (AITSL, 2014). Principals' extant practices that shape the ecology of education for Indigenous students in rural schools were identified. Educational leadership that authentically values the culture, agency and beliefs of Indigenous people; that places Indigenous students' physical, mental, cultural and spiritual wellbeing at the centre of the schools' activities; that actively develops collaborative relationships and networks based on reciprocity, trust, cooperation and civility; that is guided and sustained by humanistic endeavour, makes a significant contribution towards the participation and achievements of Indigenous students. The article concludes with a framework for leadership of Indigenous education in RRR schools which locates the principal in the role of 'protagonist', building bridging social capital around the practices that contribute holistically to the education of Indigenous students.
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Guenther, John, and Serena Davie. "Editorial: School Communities and Partnerships." Australian and International Journal of Rural Education 32, no. 3 (November 18, 2022): i—iii. http://dx.doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v32i3.357.
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In this issue of the Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, our authors explore the impact of partnerships on education in rural communities. Schools are expected to prepare students for an unknown and uncertain future. Partnerships between schools and industry, higher education providers and the wider community can achieve greater outcomes for students than schools working in isolation.
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Downes, Natalie, and Philip Roberts. "Revisiting the schoolhouse: A literature review on staffing rural, remote and isolated schools in Australia 2004-2016." Australian and International Journal of Rural Education 28, no. 1 (August 20, 2017): 31–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v28i1.112.
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The staffing of rural, remote and isolated schools remains a significant issue of concern in Australian education. In this paper we provide a comprehensive account of the Australian research related to the staffing of rural schools post 2004. The review identifies the overarching themes of the opportunities and challenges of staffing rural schools, pre-service teacher preparation, and leadership. Within these there are numerous sub categories such as the policy setting, incentives, understanding place, mentoring, professional development, and teacher education. Overall the review identifies that the issues explored in the research literature between 2004 and 2016 are similar in character to those examined prior to 2004. As such we raise the question of, if we have such a well-developed knowledge of matters related to rural school staffing, why does it remain an ongoing issue? While this review does not seek to answer this question, it provides an opening for discussion by identifying and describing the research on issues, and approaches, in the staffing of rural, remote, and isolated schools to date.
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Clarke, Simon, and Elizabeth Stevens. "Sustainable leadership in small rural schools: Selected Australian vignettes." Journal of Educational Change 10, no. 4 (May 26, 2008): 277–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10833-008-9076-8.
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McGrail, Matthew R., Belinda G. O’Sullivan, and Deborah J. Russell. "Rural Work and Specialty Choices of International Students Graduating from Australian Medical Schools: Implications for Policy." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 24 (December 11, 2019): 5056. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16245056.
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Almost 500 international students graduate from Australian medical schools annually, with around 70% commencing medical work in Australia. If these Foreign Graduates of Accredited Medical Schools (FGAMS) wish to access Medicare benefits, they must initially work in Distribution Priority Areas (mainly rural). This study describes and compares the geographic and specialty distribution of FGAMS. Participants were 18,093 doctors responding to Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life national annual surveys, 2012–2017. Multiple logistic regression models explored location and specialty outcomes for three training groups (FGAMS; other Australian-trained (domestic) medical graduates (DMGs); and overseas-trained doctors (OTDs)). Only 19% of FGAMS worked rurally, whereas 29% of Australia’s population lives rurally. FGAMS had similar odds of working rurally as DMGs (OR 0.93, 0.77–1.13) and about half the odds of OTDs (OR 0.48, 0.39–0.59). FGAMS were more likely than DMGs to work as general practitioners (GPs) (OR 1.27, 1.03–1.57), but less likely than OTDs (OR 0.74, 0.59–0.92). The distribution of FGAMS, particularly geographically, is sub-optimal for improving Australia’s national medical workforce goals of adequate rural and generalist distribution. Opportunities remain for policy makers to expand current policies and develop a more comprehensive set of levers to promote rural and GP distribution from this group.
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Stevens, Ken. "Perceptions of Teaching in two Types of Isolated Australian Secondary Schools." Australian and International Journal of Rural Education 2, no. 2 (July 1, 1992): 15–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v2i2.364.
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The concept "rural" in Australia is capable of different meanings according to the state (e.g. Tasmania versus Queensland) and in terms of location in relation to major centres of population. In a study in two rural Queensland secondary schools different perceptions ofteaching were found: rural school A is located in the western interior of the state while rural school B is in the hinterland of two large coastal cities. Four dimensions of rural education are explored - in terms of teacher perceptions of: (i) relationships between themselves and their students together with the local communities; (ii) the state department of education; (iii) the (largely urban) teaching profession and (iv) professional satisfaction. It is argued that perceptions of teaching in isolated communities are determined by such rural-urban relationships and that the quality of education in rural communities is shaped by such considerations.
Dissertations / Theses on the topic "Rural australian schools"
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KLAASSEN, Anne, and anne klaassen@det wa edu au. "A LEARNING COMMUNITY APPROACH TO SCHOOLING : TWO AUSTRALIAN CASE STUDIES." Edith Cowan University. Education And Arts: School Of Education, 2006. http://adt.ecu.edu.au/adt-public/adt-ECU2006.0045.html.
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This research project investigates the implementation of a learning community approach in two rural Australian communities with a particular focus on the initiatives of a primary school in each community. Case study research describes and analyses the developments in each community and a cross case analysis examines similarities and differences in approach and outcomes.
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Klaassen, Anne. "A learning community approach to schooling: Two Australian case studies." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2006. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/77.
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This research project investigates the implementation of a learning community approach in two rural Australian communities with a particular focus on the initiatives of a primary school in each community. Case study research describes and analyses the developments in each community and a cross case analysis examines similarities and differences in approach and outcomes.
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Wright, Natalie. "The goDesign immersion program: Fostering design-led educational innovation in regional Australian schools." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2018. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/123067/1/Natalie_Wright_Thesis.pdf.
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This thesis proposes a new research area and framework for Design-led Educational Innovation which, based on approaches applied from the business, design and education sectors, outlines how design thinking capabilities might be developed for twenty-first century skill development and life-long learning. The framework is validated and refined through the findings of a mapping study and an informal, context-adaptive, regional secondary school design immersion program called goDesign, conducted in Queensland, Australia.
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Crockett, Alan J. "The prevalence of respiratory symptoms in urban and rural South Australian school children /." Title page, table of contents and abstract only, 1988. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09MPM/09mpmc943.pdf.
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Sullivan, Kevin. "How do school resources and learning environments differ across Australian rural, regional and metropolitan communities." Thesis, Sullivan, Kevin (2018) How do school resources and learning environments differ across Australian rural, regional and metropolitan communities. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2018. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/42839/.
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Despite recent emphasis on improved government funding and advances in technology that reduce the isolation of rural communities, research continues to highlight that Australian students attending rural schools, on average, achieve poorer academic outcomes than their urban peers. It is plausible that these lower academic outcomes are associated with the characteristics of rural schools. Little is known, however, about the nature and degree to which schools differ between rural and metropolitan communities in Australia. The aim of this study is to compare school characteristics across a range of rural and metropolitan settings, using a large-scale and nationally representative dataset.
The study comprised three investigations that examined how student achievement, school resources and school learning environments vary across urban, regional, rural, and remote communities using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). PISA is an international assessment created by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that assesses the reading, mathematics and science literacies of 15-year-old students. PISA also collects data from school principals and students about a range of student and school related variables that may be related to student literacy in the three subject domains. The three investigations used data from the 2009 cycle of PISA, which comprised approximately 470,000 students from 65 countries and economies, including over 14,000 Australian students attending 353 schools. Descriptive statistics were used to compare student and school principal perspectives about a range of school resources and learning environments.
The initial paper investigated school resource variables across eight rural-urban community categories in Australia. The school resource variables included computers for education, the ratio of computers to students, computers with internet access, and principals’ perspectives of the degree to which shortages of teaching personnel and teaching materials and resources hinder student learning. On average, principals of schools in rural communities were more likely than their counterparts in larger communities to perceive that instruction was hindered by shortages of teaching personnel and to a lesser extent by shortages of teaching resources. Principals in larger towns and very large towns (ranging in size from 15,000 to 50,000 residents) reported that shortages of mathematics teachers were a hindrance to a similar degree as school principals in small rural communities.
The second paper examined differences in school learning environments across eight rural-urban community categories in Australia. Learning environments were measured by the following: principals’ perceptions of teacher and student behaviour, student attitudes towards school, and student perceptions of their classroom disciplinary climate and relationships with teachers. The findings show that regardless of location, most Australian students believed that schooling is worthwhile and reported positive relationships with their teachers. However, both student and principal perceptions of disciplinary climate and learning environments were more positive in urban communities than in rural communities.
The third paper compared school community differences at an international level, contrasting two economic, culturally, and socially similar nations, Canada and New Zealand, with Australia. Research focused on: average student reading performance, socioeconomic status and parent education ,principals’ perceptions about their school’s resources, and student perceptions of classroom disciplinary climate, teacher-student relations, and teacher instructional strategies. The findings showed that across Canada, New Zealand and Australia reading literacy performance and school learning environments are less positive in rural communities than in urban communities. However, these inequalities between rural and urban school communities are greater in Australia than in the other two countries. Of the three countries, rural school principals in Australia are the most likely to report that shortages of teaching personnel hinder learning.
The findings show that school learning environments and school resources vary substantially across Australian school communities. Given the patterning of student performance favouring urban over rural school communities, it may very well be that elements such as rural school shortage of resources and relations between student and teacher negatively impact the academic performance of students. The three studies highlight that much still needs to be learned about: (1) recruiting and retaining teachers in large regional Australian towns; (2) the degree to which shortages of instructional material and equipment are associated with geographic location; and, (3) the reasons underlying students’ and principals’ views of school learning environments in large regional towns (up to 50,000 residence) are less positive than their counterparts’ views in rural and remote communities. The findings also suggest that education policies and structures can play a role in ameliorating or exacerbating rural educational disadvantage.
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Fittock, Simon. "The socialisation of early career principals in Western Australia." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2020. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2309.
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This research aimed to investigate and understand the socialisation of early career principals in Western Australian public schools. It is widely acknowledged that school principals are critical in the successful education of students and delivering on this is seen to be the core purpose of the role. It is evident that the development of effective principals has great value. As a result, the socialisation of principals during the formative early career stage, whereby they learn the necessary knowledge, skills and understandings of the role, is important in the educational experiences of students. Due to the impact principals have on student learning, research into the socialisation of early career principals holds significance.
The Department of Education (DoE) is the largest employer of school principals in Western Australia. DoE see effective leadership as a key priority and is committed to the development of effective principals through the provision of professional learning. In the past, research (including Clarke et al., 2011; Gurr et al., 2014; Wildy & Clarke, 2008a, 2008b) has reported that Western Australian early career principals have faced many complex challenges during their socialisation. Much of this research was conducted over 10 years ago and it is problematic that the topic of principal socialisation in Western Australia has received little attention since. My research sought to address this problem by providing a current insight and investigate the extent of which the findings from previous studies are still relevant. Furthermore, this research provided an opportunity to investigate whether DoE’s professional learning provision had addressed the challenges faced by early career principals as suggested by previous studies.
The participant cohort for this research was comprised of seven early career principals of Western Australian public schools. The participants were located in multiple regions across the state of both metropolitan and rural areas. This research used a qualitative methodology because it aimed to develop an understanding of the meanings that the participants attached to their experiences. To gain this understanding, individual semi-structured interviews were used as the data collection method.
Findings from the data suggest that during the initial stages of their career, the participants felt unprepared, unqualified and isolated. Unpreparedness came from a lack of understanding of what the principalship would entail and inexperience in school management tasks. The feeling of being unqualified emerged from an increase of focus in the area of school management in comparison to other roles the participants had held prior to becoming a principal. Feelings of isolation were evident as a result of being an outsider to the school community and, for the rural participants, the geographical location. The significance of this study can be seen in the alignment between its findings and with those of previous studies. The findings also have provided a current insight into the challenges faced by early career principals and the type of support they perceive to be most beneficial. This information could be seen to be valuable to DoE and their ongoing provision of professional learning to early career principals.
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Turner, Krystle Vivienne. "The augmented rural reality: How rural high school students' decisions to pursue university study in digital media are 'augmented' by the role of life history and cultural capital." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2018. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/123240/2/Krystle%20Turner%20Thesis.pdf.
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Rural students are underrepresented in higher education in Australia. At the same time, the workforce is rapidly transforming with the integration of digital processes into everyday work and life. Rural students are less digitally competent than urban students. Queensland, a largely regionalised state, has a high percentage of rural students. Using cultural capital as a framework, this research identifies family, community, school and digital media as influences on rural Queensland students' decisions to pursue higher education and their perceived value of digital media. Family plays the most significant role in the decision making process, while students' community and school also influence decisions and perceptions. Students' value of digital media depended somewhat on their intended career choice. Findings provide valuable new data around student influences towards higher education and digital media and suggest avenues to improve outreach programs targeting students in rural areas.
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Townsend, Arthur. "Educative curricula and improving the science PCK of teachers in middle school settings in rural and remote Australia." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2015. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1748.
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Science is one of seven-mandated Key Learning Areas (KLAs) Foundation to Year 10 of the new Australian National Curriculum (ACARA, 2012). Not only, therefore, is science to be offered in every school as part of the curriculum, there is also the expectation that science is to be taught well to all students regardless of location, gender, cultural background or socio-economic status (ACARA, 2012). Studying science provides benefits to individuals by developing their scientific literacy skills (Goodrum, Hackling & Rennie, 2001; Hackling & Prain, 2008). Its study also benefits the national economy by equipping students with the innovative, inventive, and creative skills to generate and apply new ideas as knowledge workers in an interconnected and interdependent global economy (Marginson, Tytler, Freeman & Roberts, 2013; Productivity Commission, 2007).
A study of recent literature, including the national and international data on the middle years of school (ACARA, 2012; ACER, 2011, 2013; Goodrum et al., 2001; Goodrum, Druhan, & Abbs, 2012; Hackling & Prain, 2007; Marginson et al., 2013; Office of the Chief Scientist, 2012; Productivity Commission, 2007), could reasonably be expected to show rural and remote students doing well in science if not at least as well as their metropolitan counterparts. Sadly, this is not the case. Science performance in national and international assessments overall is flat-lining (ACARA, 2011; ACER, 2011, 2013) and the gap between metropolitan, rural and remote students in some assessment data indicates as much as 18 months of difference in schooling in favour of metropolitan students and with the gap increasing with increasing remoteness.
What are the causes of this inequity and how can it be addressed? Science teachers hold the key (Australian Council of Deans of Science, 2005; Dow, 2003a; Goodrum et al., 2001). Improving the effectiveness of science teachers helps improve science learning outcomes for students. One way to improve the effectiveness of science teachers is to improve their Pedagogical Content Knowledge (Kind, 2009b; Magnusson, Krajcik & Borko, 1999; Loughran, 2010; Loughran, Berry & Mulhall, 2006; Shulman, 1986) through professional learning experiences. However, improving teachers’ science PCK in the middle-school years in rural and remote settings through traditional face-to-face professional learning activities poses a number of challenges. These include lack of casual relief teachers, difficulties in attracting and retaining science teachers, the provision of experienced mentors and coaches and, the provision of fewer professional learning opportunities compared with metropolitan areas (Australian Council of Deans of Science, 2005; Australian Secondary Principal’s Association, 2006; National Centre of Science, Information and Communication Technology, and Mathematics Education for Rural and Regional Australia, 2006). Educative curricula designed to improve teachers’ science PCK as well as learning outcomes for students provide an alternative to traditional face-to-face professional learning for teachers in rural and remote locations (Davis & Krajcik, 2005). Can educative curricula help address the inequity in student science outcomes in rural and remote areas?
The Middle Years Astronomy Project (the Project) is an example of one educative curriculum currently in use in the middle years of some rural and remote schools (McKinnon, 2005). This educative curriculum is aligned with the Australian Science Curriculum. It comprises access to telescopes and digital cameras located in NSW (Australia) and Wyoming (USA) that students can control remotely to take photographs of many astronomical phenomena, which can form the basis of further investigations. It also comprises a teachers’ guide designed to improve teachers’ science PCK by providing guidance on designing instructional strategies for science projects with knowledge of five factors in mind. These factors are knowledge of the science content, knowledge of students’ alternative conceptions, knowledge of instructional strategies and the most appropriate assessment strategies to employ, knowledge of the science curriculum, and knowledge of personal beliefs and orientations toward science teaching and learning.
This thesis explores the potential for this educative curriculum to improve the PCK of teachers of science in the middle school years in rural and remote settings. It does this by employing a Type IV multiple-case, embedded mixed-methods design (Yin, 2014) over two phases in two states of Australia collecting a range of data from four remote sites in Western Australia and four rural sites in Victoria. Participants comprised 12 teachers, four principals, four teaching principals, one Science KLA Consultant, one Cluster Coordinator and over 200 students. Data were gathered from interviews; archival records; researcher direct observations; an astronomy diagnostic test; student artifacts; and school based documents. A framework, developed from the works of Davis & Krajcik (2005), Kind (2009b) and Magnusson et al. (1999), is used to analyse the data for evidence of changes in teachers’ science PCK.
The results of this research indicate that the Project improved teachers’ science PCK for most teachers. Reasons for this are presented. An emerging phenomenon from the research was the ability of experienced science teachers to move holistically and fluidly between components of PCK to make in the moment pedagogical decisions to improve student learning. This has been referred to as ‘pinball pedagogical reasoning’ (Mitchell, Pannizon, Keast & Loughran, 2015). The findings of this research have implications for both current practice and future research, providing guidance to teachers and designers of professional learning experiences, including educative curriculum designers, on the areas to target when seeking to develop components of PCK for experienced teachers and on assisting less experienced teachers to acquire the ‘pinball pedagogical reasoning’ skills of experienced teachers. The findings also suggest that PCK development takes time and requires a planned and systematic approach to teacher career development with support from the employer.
This thesis suggests further areas for research and concludes by arguing that a poor science education, which results in poorer scientific literacy skills and a reduced ability to contribute to, and thrive in, the national and international knowledge economies, adds to the education disadvantage students in rural and remote locations experience relative to their metropolitan peers. It advocates a moral imperative to ensure this does not happen. It also suggests that using educative curricula to improve the PCK of rural and remote science teacher, as well as science student learning outcomes, is a strategy worthy of pursuit.
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Hunter, Janet. "Knowing and teaching: the impact of teachers’ knowledge on students’ early literacy achievement." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2015. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1688.
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Children in rural and remote schools typically underperform in measures of literacy achievement (e.g., NAPLAN) from as early as year three. Data collected over time indicate that as children get older, the gap increases between those students who meet the national benchmarks and those who do not. Additionally, Indigenous children are overrepresented in this group of students who are underperforming in measures of literacy achievement. This study seeks to explore the conditions surrounding this phenomenon and to tease out the complexities present in rural and remote contexts that might contribute to this underachievement.
One remote and six remote‐rural schools in Western Australia were the focus of the study. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to collect data over three years. Qualitative data were collected using an ethnographic approach, through classroom observations and informal and formal interviews with students, teachers, school leaders, support staff and some parents. From these observations and interviews, teacher and student case studies were constructed. Quantitative data were collected from children through a range of early literacy assessment tasks. Around 60 children were assessed each year for three years. Approximately half of the children each year were Indigenous and half non‐Indigenous.
The notion of educational criticism and connoisseurship (Eisner, 1985) was used as a way to describe, interpret and evaluate the literacy teaching practices which occurred in schools and classrooms. Habermas's (1971) “knowledge constituent interests” were used as lenses through which to interrogate the data. The quantitative data informed the technical interest, while the qualitative data were interrogated using the practical and critical lenses.
The study indicated that barriers to children’s academic success may exist at a number of levels. First, many children enter such schools with limited knowledge to support the development of school English literacy, therefore particular attention needs to be paid to this during their first years of schooling. While all children are likely to make progress in developing school English literacy, for many children the extent and rate of progress is dependent on focussed and knowledgeable teaching.
Second, such schools are typically staffed by teachers in the early years of their career, who need support to develop their pedagogical, content and cultural knowledge to the degree necessary for successfully teaching early literacy in such contexts. Additionally, the relative remoteness of the context in which they are working often makes it difficult for them to access ongoing professional learning and support. Third, school leaders are typically in their first position in that role, with the consequence that they may be less able to support new teachers at the classroom level.
This study is significant because it seeks to unravel the complicated web of factors that impact on the quality of literacy instruction that is provided for children in in remote and remote‐rural schools in Western Australia. There needs to be available a range of measures at every level, that can be tailored to fit the needs of a particular school at any given time.
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Hadwen, Kate Margaret. "Leaving home: Investigating transitioning challenges faced by boarding students and their families." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2015. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/1628.
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Transitioning to boarding school during the middle years of childhood impacts upon the social, emotional and academic wellbeing of young people (Bramston & Patrick, 2007; Connell & Wellborn, 1991; Deci, Vallerand, Pelletier, & Ryan, 1991; Earls & Carlson, 2001). Students who live at school as boarders, may experience greater transitional changes in all three components of wellbeing due to the extent of change experienced during this transition. While research addressing transitioning to school has indicated the importance of connectedness to school, bonding, friendships and a sense of autonomy (Eccles et al., 1993), there is limited research addressing the transitioning experiences of boarding students and their families.
This mixed methodology study sought to understand how boarding students experience transitioning into boarding school, its possible association with connectedness to the boarding house, reported levels of staff support, loneliness, homesickness and help-seeking for homesickness. Focus groups and interviews were used to better understand how parents experience the transitioning of their children into boarding school.
This thesis used data collected from a Healthway funded Starter Grant. The research was cross-sectional by design involving a purposeful sample of 267 students, 59% male and 41% female, aged 12 - 15 years, who lived in one of eight metropolitan and regional boarding settings in Western Australia (WA) in 2011, and 37 of their parents. Data for this project were collected from October, 2010 to September, 2011
The first research question used qualitative data to explore the experiences of boarding parents. Findings suggested parents appeared to be more affected by their children leaving home than did the majority of boarding students. The following strategies were suggested as helpful to support positive transitions: preparing both parents and their children effectively for the move; making contact with other boarding parents at least six months prior to the transition; having meaningful connections with the staff caring for their children communicating and visiting their children regularly; co-developing with their children communication and visiting plans; and, keeping busy.
Research questions two to five analysed quantitative data collected through a student survey. The following transitioning activities were found to be either very helpful and / or associated with other benefits (as listed above): tour of the boarding house; sleepover with or without parents; separate information targeting students and parents sent or given to boarding families, up to date information on the Internet; Orientation Day; peer mentors; staff telephoning students prior to transition; and, boarding staff meeting with each family individually on or following Orientation Day.
Homesickness was most commonly experienced during the first two weeks of boarding and when students returned after their holidays. Girls, younger students and International students reported experiencing more homesickness. Three factors: psychosomatic symptoms; separation distress; and, grief and loss, best explained how students in this study experienced homesickness.
Help-seeking behaviours comprised the factors contacting parents, keeping busy and conversing with staff and students. A number of activities were associated with reductions in both psychosomatic symptoms and separation distress; however, for those students who experienced grief and loss, going on leave with their parents and knowing when their parents would next be visiting or taking them on leave appeared to be the only activities that reduced students’ grief response.
Help-seeking was most evident for students who experienced psychosomatic symptoms or feelings of separation distress. Students who experienced grief and loss were less likely to report seeking help. Girls and younger students reported utilising the most help-seeking strategies.
The findings of this study and the subsequent recommendations will assist families and staff to better understand the experiences of boarding students and their families as students transition into boarding.
Books on the topic "Rural australian schools"
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Great Australian outback school stories. Sydney South, N.S.W: HarperCollins Publishers, 2013.
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(Australia), Commonwealth Schools Commission. Schooling in rural Australia. Canberra: Curriculum Development Center, 1988.
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City bushmen: The Heidelberg school and the rural mythology. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1985.
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McKenzie, John A. Old bush schools: Life and education in the small schools of Western Australia, 1893 to 1961. Doubleview, W.A: Western Australian College of Advanced Education, 1986.
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Bundy, Alan L. Widened horizons: The rural school community libraries of South Australia. Adelaide: Auslib Press, 1997.
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Cumming, James. Resourceful communities: Integrating education, training and work for young people in rural Australia. Belconnen, A.C.T: Australian Curriculum Studies Association, 1992.
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Graham, Lorraine, and Judith Miller. Bush Tracks: The Opportunities and Challenges of Rural Teaching and Leadership. BRILL, 2015.
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Graham, Lorraine, and Judith Miller. Bush Tracks: The Opportunities and Challenges of Rural Teaching and Leadership. BRILL, 2015.
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Astbury, Leigh. City Bushmen: The Heidelberg School and the Rural Mythology. Oxford University Press, USA, 1986.
Find full textBook chapters on the topic "Rural australian schools"
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Bannister-Tyrrell, Michelle, and Denise Wood. "Rural Voices: Identifying the Perceptions, Practices, and Experiences of Gifted Pedagogy in Australian Rural and Regional Schools." In Handbook of Giftedness and Talent Development in the Asia-Pacific, 1267–93. Singapore: Springer Singapore, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3041-4_62.
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Bannister-Tyrrell, Michelle, and Denise Wood. "Rural Voices: Identifying the Perceptions, Practices and Experiences of Gifted Pedagogy in Australian Rural and Regional Schools." In Handbook of Giftedness and Talent Development in the Asia-Pacific, 1–26. Singapore: Springer Singapore, 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3021-6_62-1.
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Bannister-Tyrrell, Michelle, and Denise Wood. "Rural Voices: Identifying the Perceptions, Practices, and Experiences of Gifted Pedagogy in Australian Rural and Regional Schools." In Handbook of Giftedness and Talent Development in the Asia-Pacific, 1267–93. Singapore: Springer Singapore, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-3041-4_62.
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Giardiello, Mauro, and Hernan Cuervo. "The Formation of a Sense of Belonging: An Analysis of Young People’s Lives in Australian and Italian Rural Communities." In Interrogating Belonging for Young People in Schools, 203–24. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75217-4_10.
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Halsey, John R. "Rural-Urban School Partnerships and Australia’s Sustainability." In Excellence in Scholarship, 267–77. Rotterdam: SensePublishers, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6209-257-0_18.
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Kettle, Margaret. "Building School-Migrant Family Connections in Culturally- and Linguistically-Diversifying Rural Communities: A Participatory Study From Australia." In Rural Education Across the World, 107–28. Singapore: Springer Singapore, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6116-4_6.
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Ullman, Jacqueline. "Regulating ‘gender climate’: Exploring the social construction of gender and sexuality in regional and rural Australian schools." In Understanding Sociological Theory for Educational Practices, 63–82. Cambridge University Press, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/9781108378482.006.
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Gmelch, George, and Sharon Bohn Gmelch. "When the Field Is a City." In In the Field, 185–200. University of California Press, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520289611.003.0011.
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After two decades of taking students to rural Barbados, the authors move their field school to Australia, to the Tasmanian city of Hobart. This chapter explores how different urban fieldwork is from traditional village ethnography. The advantages and disadvantages of urban vs. rural research and the difference between anthropology of the city and anthropology in the city are discussed.
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Willems, Julie, Cathy Haigh, Marianne Tare, Margaret Simmons, David Reser, Adelle McArdle, and Shane Bullock. "Toward Sustainable Teaching: Staff Perceptions of the Delivery of a Rural Medical Program during the COVID-19 Pandemic." In Higher Education - Reflections From the Field [Working Title]. IntechOpen, 2023. http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109417.
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What can be learned through teaching and learning in crises, such as bushfires, floods, and the global COVID-19 disruption? How can insights gained be applied to prepare for inevitable future disruption to normal operation, especially in regions identified to be prone to natural hazards? In 2021, focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with academics, clinical tutors, and professional staff members to explore staff perceptions in a regional medical school in eastern Victoria, Australia, about their experiences of teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Strategies are suggested to sustain teaching in times of crisis or natural disaster to future-proof against inevitable change including protocols, policy, staff checklists, and staff continuing professional development.
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Taylor, Calvin. "Mobiles, Movement, and Meaning-Making." In Interdisciplinary Mobile Media and Communications, 1–25. IGI Global, 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-6166-0.ch001.
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Drawing on ethnographic research conducted with adolescents at a rural Australian high school, this chapter constructs a theoretical model for “mobile literacy.” Mobile technologies, and their increasing technological capabilities, present emerging challenges for definitions and understandings of what precisely constitutes “literate practice,” challenges which have not been wholly resolved though more disparate discussions of “electronically mediated communication.” Such an understanding is important in order to develop approaches that effectively integrate mobile technologies into formal educational contexts. The model constructed in this chapter draws on different theoretical traditions where literacy is concerned, combining these with a sociological model developed by Pierre Bourdieu, to draw out the importance of the social dimension in mobile technology use. The ethnographic methodology results in findings that reveal the structuring impact of economic, social, cultural, and symbolic resources associated with these devices. Far from revealing that mobiles free us from a consideration of “place,” this research demonstrates that to be “mobile literate” is to be even more finely attuned to the contextual factors for any mobile technology use.
Conference papers on the topic "Rural australian schools"
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Penman, Joy, and Jyothi Thalluri. "The Impact of a University Experience Program on Rural and Regional Secondary School Students: Keeping the Flame Burning." In InSITE 2017: Informing Science + IT Education Conferences: Vietnam. Informing Science Institute, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.28945/3654.
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[This Proceedings paper was revised and published in the journal Issues in Informing Science and Information Technology] Aim/Purpose : The uptake of university by regional students has been problematic for various reasons. This paper discusses a program, initiated by a South Australian regional university campus, aimed at attracting regional students into higher education. Background: A qualitative descriptive approach to study was used to determine the value of the program on participating students and school staff. Year 10 students from Roxby Downs, Port Augusta and Port Lincoln high schools were invited to participate in a two-day regionally-focussed school-university engagement program that linked students with the university campus and local employers. Methodology: A survey was administered to determine the impact of the program. Perceptions about the program by school staff were gathered using a modified One-Minute Harvard questionnaire. While 38 Year 10 students and 5 school staff members participated, 37 students and 3 staff evaluated the program. Findings: The findings revealed that the majority of the students would like to attend university, but financial and social issues were important barriers. The students learned about the regional university, what it can offer in terms of programs and support, and the employment prospect following university. The school staff benefited by developing a closer relationship with students and becoming better informed about the regional university. Recommendation for Practitioners: One way by which university uptake may be increased is to provide similar immersion programs featuring engagement with employers, our recommendation to other regional universities. In increasing the levels of education, individuals, communities and the society in general are benefited.
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Van Der Vyver, Glen, Debbie Crabb, and Michael Lane. "Factors Influencing the Decision to Choose Information Technology Preparatory Studies in Secondary Schools: An Exploratory Study in Regional/Rural Australia." In InSITE 2004: Informing Science + IT Education Conference. Informing Science Institute, 2004. http://dx.doi.org/10.28945/2810.
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The career paths of students are influenced and shaped by the subject choices that are made in the final years of secondary schooling. This paper presents the findings of an empirical study that identified the key factors influencing the decision of rural / regional Australian students to choose or not choose to study Information Processing and Technology. The findings revealed that career oriented, extrinsic factors play an important role in motivating the selection of I.P.T. at school and, by implication, information technology at university. There are few apparent gender differences but there is limited evidence to suggest that males may be more influenced by extrinsic motivators and females by intrinsic motivators. Although the factors used in the study were initially identified largely via informal processes, they all appear to influence the decision to take I.P.T. The focus on career-related factors and the instrumentality of taking I.P.T. could explain the drop-off in students taking the subject. This has potentially significant implications as regards the future supply of good information technology professionals.
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Guenther, John. "Educational Opportunity and the Language of "Choice" for Rural and Remote Schools in Australia." In 2020 AERA Annual Meeting. Washington DC: AERA, 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/1628117.
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