Rural Education Across the World : Models of Innovative Practice and Impact

"This book brings together authors from United States, South Africa, United Kingdom, China, Canada and Australia to provide insights and case studies from across a range of contexts to explore the interplay between the notions of rurality, innovation and education. The book reveals a hopeful and resilient approach to innovative rural education and scholarship collectively and provides important evidence to speak against an often deficit view of rural education. Three patterns are revealed, namely: the importance of place-attentive strategies, the importance of joined up alliances to maximise resources and networks and finally, the need to utilize alternative methodologies and frameworks that have a starting point of difference rather than deficit for any rural initiative or approach. By drawing from international examples and responding in innovative ways to rural education challenges, this book provides an opportunity to share international insights into innovations, interventions and partnerships that promote and support rural education in its broadest sense."--Back cover Foreword References Contents Editors and Contributors About the Editors Contributors Part I Introduction 1 International Trends and Patterns in Innovation in Rural Education 1.1 Rural Education Innovation? 1.2 Hope and Resilience in Rural Education 1.3 Old Stories and New Frontiers: Innovation Against the Status Quo? 1.3.1 Staffing Rural Schools 1.3.2 Addressing All Students’ Needs 1.3.3 Troubling Metro-Centric Policies and New Rural Methodological Tools 1.4 Keys to Successful Innovation? Emerging Patterns 1.4.1 Place-Attentive Strategies 1.4.2 Joined Up Alliances and New Vision of Community 1.4.3 Repositioning Policy and Practice as Power 1.5 Conclusion References Part II Place-Attentive Rural Teacher Preparation 2 It Takes a Village: Using Communities of Practice as a Framework for Reflecting on Rural and Regional Professional Experience Opportunities 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Positioning Community of Practice as a Lens for Sense-Making 2.3 Context: Understanding Programs and Place 2.3.1 Bass Coast Region (Case Study 1) 2.3.2 Charleville (Case Study 2) 2.4 Storying Professional Experience in Rural Contexts 2.5 Sense-Making: What the Cases Tell Us 2.5.1 Domain: Improving Professional Practice in Rural and Regional Contexts 2.5.2 Community: The People Involved in Improving Professional Practice 2.5.3 Practices: The Actions and Strategies Involved in Improving Professional Practice 2.6 Conclusion: Key Learnings References 3 Knowing Myself as a Teacher: Transforming the Place of Rurality in Scottish Initial Teacher Education 3.1 Rurality in Scottish Initial Teacher Education 3.2 How Rural and Local Place Informs the PDGE Primary Programme 3.3 Establishing the PGDE Primary Programme as a Trajectory into Teaching 3.4 Construing the PGDE Primary Programme Using Activity Theory 3.5 Exploring Programme Activity as Local, Digital and Rural 3.6 Deepening Our Understanding of How Rural Place Informs Teacher Identity for Our Students 3.7 Knowing Myself as a Teacher: Transforming the Place of Rurality in Scottish Initial Teacher Education References 4 Teacher Preparation for Rurality: A Cohort Model of Teaching Practice in a Rural South African School 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Rurality and Teacher Education in South Africa 4.3 The Rural Teacher Education Project (RTEP) 4.4 Methodology 4.4.1 The Research Site 4.4.2 Method 4.4.3 Data Generation 4.4.4 Data Analysis 4.5 Findings 4.5.1 Conceptions About Rural Schools 4.5.2 Relating with the Rural School 4.5.3 Relating with the Classroom 4.5.4 Relating with Mentors 4.5.5 Relating with Peers 4.6 Discussion 4.7 Conclusion and Implications References Part III Programmes and Services Attuned to Rural Schools and Communities 5 Innovations in Providing Quality Gifted Programming in Rural Schools Using Place-Conscious Practices 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Theoretical Grounding 5.2.1 Giftedness as a Social Construct 5.2.2 Rural as a Social Construct 5.2.3 Place as Meaning Making 5.3 Challenges in Recognizing and Serving Gifted Students in Rural Environments 5.4 Innovative Strategies to Minimize Challenges in Identifying and Providing Appropriate Curriculum and Instruction to Gifted Learners in Rural Schools 5.4.1 A Case Study of Alternative Identification in Rural School Districts 5.4.2 Quality Curriculum for Gifted Learners that Reflects Place-Based Curriculum 5.5 Teacher Support 5.6 Conclusion References 6 Building School-Migrant Family Connections in Culturally- and Linguistically-Diversifying Rural Communities: A Participatory Study From Australia 6.1 Introduction 6.2 The Context 6.3 The Literature 6.3.1 Migration Patterns in Australia 6.3.2 School-Family Connections 6.3.3 Theorising Cultural Practices and Socially just Connections 6.4 The Study 6.5 Building Connections: Conditions and Processes 6.5.1 The School Principal and Teachers 6.5.2 The EAL Students 6.5.3 The Migrant Parents 6.6 Emerging Connections: Discussion 6.6.1 A Combined Social Event 6.6.2 Changed Workplace Practices and the Parent Advisory Group 6.6.3 Recruitment of a Community Liaison Officer and Further Research 6.7 Conclusion References 7 Thriving School Enrichment Programs for Rural South African Schools 7.1 Introduction 7.2 South African Rural Schools in Context 7.3 School Enrichment Programs Conceptualised 7.4 Theoretical Framework 7.5 Data Generation 7.6 Data Analysis 7.7 Discussion: Thriving Rural School Enrichment Programs 7.7.1 Provision of Well-Organised and Diverse Activities 7.7.2 Establishment of an Effective Monitoring Team 7.7.3 Circumstances that Made the High-Quality Programming and Staffing Thrive 7.7.4 Establishment of Strong Partnerships 7.8 Conclusion References Part IV Principles and Practices to Inspire the Future of Rural Education 8 Insights to Process and Practice in Rural Education: Rural Education in the Context of Rapid (Urban) Development 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Equity and Rurality in China 8.3 Fei Xiaotong 8.4 Teacher Education in the People’s Republic of China 8.4.1 Following the Cultural Revolution 8.4.2 Teacher Education in China Today 8.4.3 Content of Pre-Service Teacher Education Programs 8.4.4 The National Teacher Certification Examination 8.4.5 Ongoing Professional Development 8.5 Rural Schools 8.6 Approaches to Staffing Schools 8.7 Policy 8.7.1 Policy for Equity 8.7.2 Policy for Revitalisation References 9 Structures of Feeling and the Problem of Place in Rural Education 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Structures of Feeling 9.3 Spectrology 9.4 The Production of Place 9.5 Difficult Histories 9.6 Problematizing Place 9.7 Diasporic Autobiography 9.8 Conclusion References Index