Understanding rural and remote schools, and facilitating school-community relationships

Rural and remote schools make up a significant portion of Australian schools. Although there are rural schools that exceed 500 students, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2008) reports that 2,188 Australian primary schools have enrolment numbers less than 100. Rural schools need a supply of good teachers; however many universities involved in teacher education are located in city areas. For example, Queensland University of Technology is city-based, generating the highest number of early career teachers for Queensland including teachers for rural schools. Given the number of graduates and the number of rural schools, it seems likely that early career teachers will have opportunities for teaching in these settings, which also means living within a rural community. This chapter will discuss the nature of teaching in rural and remote schools, the challenges, the rewards and the importance of working closely with the local community. It is hoped that by understanding rural and remote schools, early career teachers can make informed decisions that will influence their future career prospects.

Professional Educational Psychology and Community Relations Education in Northern Ireland.

This article provides an account of practice-based research of, at least, one-star quality in terms of its contribution to both theory and practice. Aimed at practitioner (as opposed to academic) psychologists, the article addresses a dimension of the practitioner role that has remained silent in the literature. The article makes creative and original connections between school effectiveness, school improvement and education in a divided society. Post 11th September, the article was described as being highly original, significant and relevant to all practising educational psychologists. Concrete evidence for this is gained from, eg: hits on the online electronic version (2002-2003 Annual Report of the Association of Educational Psychologists), citations in reviews of research, and author invitations to present his work at UK and international practitioner psychology conferences. The article is published in the premier journal reporting on quality applied educational research and practice within the United Kingdom and beyond.

Organisational Self-Evaluation and Teacher Education for Community Relations in a Transforming Society?

During 2004, the School of Education at the University of Ulster embarked on an innovative three-year project designed to embed community relations objectives within initial teacher education. With the advent of more peaceful times in Northern Ireland, this was a precipitous time for initial teacher educators to review the preparation given to beginner teachers for teaching in an increasingly pluralist society emerging from conflict. The present paper reports on one very specific and time-limited element of the broader project. That is, development work designed to investigate the possibilities of using processes of self-review and evaluation as a lever for improvements in initial teacher education for community relations. Following a brief contextualisation, the background to, and the development of, a set of materials designed to support rigorous and systematic self-review of all aspects of provision in a university-based initial teacher education department is described. The Community Relations Index for Initial Teacher Education (Cr-ITE) was envisaged as being of use to initial teacher education establishments in order to help teacher educators take responsibility for rigorous learning from their practice, whilst placing inclusive values at the centre of organisational development. The final section includes further critical reflection on the role of organisational self-review in transforming teacher education for inclusion in a society emerging from longstanding communal conflict.

‘Plugging the Gap’: Shared Education and the promotion of community relations through schools in Northern Ireland

Although there is no consensus amongst educationalists as to the role schools play as drivers of hostilities in divided societies, there is broad agreement that they can facilitate more positive intergroup relations. In Northern Ireland the promotion of school based inter-group contact has been offered as a means through which this can happen. Until 2007, the approach was twofold, reflected on the one hand in short-term contact opportunities for pupils in predominantly Catholic and Protestant schools, and on the other, in support for integrated schools which educate Catholics and Protestants together. In 2007 the Shared Education Programme was introduced to ‘bridge the gap’ between short-term opportunities for contact, and ‘full immersion’ integrated schools. Informed by contact theory, shared education offers curriculum based interaction between pupils attending all school types, aimed at promoting the type of contact likely to reduce negative social attitudes and ultimately contribute to social harmony. In this paper, we examine the impact of shared education thus far. Our analysis suggests that whilst shared education is generally effective in promoting positive assessments of other group members, there is a danger that programme impact may be inhibited by the foregrounding of educational over reconciliation priorities. Appreciating that the downplaying reconciliation objectives may have been necessary when the programme was established in order to maximize recruitment to it, we argue that if the full potential of shared education is to be realized, moving forward, it is important for schools to engage with issues of group differences.

Urban renewal from the inside out: Spatial and critical literacies in a low socioeconomic school community

This article focuses on how teachers worked to build a meaningful curriculum around changes to a neighborhood and school grounds in a precinct listed for urban renewal. Drawing on a long-term relationship with the principal and one teacher, the researchers planned and designed a collaborative project to involve children as active participants in the redevelopment process, negotiating and redesigning an area between the preschool and the school. The research investigated spatial literacies, that is, ways of thinking about and representing the production of spaces, and critical literacies, in this instance how young people might have a say in remaking part of their school grounds. Data included videotapes of key events, interviews, and an archive of the elementary students' artifacts experimenting with spatial literacies. The project builds on the insights of community members and researchers working for social justice in high-poverty areas internationally that indicate the importance of education, local action, family, and youth involvement in building sustainable and equitable communities.

School-community engagement : a critical approach to involving young people in an urban planning project

This study examines the participation of a group of high school students in designing a Heritage Journey as part of an urban redevelopment project in their community. School-community engagement offers young people an opportunity to engage in community life and influence decisions that affect them. Forging links between community and school is becoming more important for teachers as they attempt to create new authentic learning opportunities for young people within a changing world. Increasingly, researchers and urban planners are including children and young people as active decision makers and participants in community engagement projects. However, models of participation tend to be adult-focussed, conceive participation in terms of low to high graduated levels and lack a clearly articulated theoretical basis. The research problem in this study focuses on investigating whether the inclusion of young people in school-community engagement results in value adding to urban planning and is an example of genuine participation. The aim of the study is to provide a theoretically informed, empirically rich understanding of the inclusion of young people in a community engagement strategy for an urban planning project. Theories of space developed by Henri Lefebvre and Edward Soja are drawn upon for understanding how space is understood, used, and redeveloped by the students and other stakeholders. The study also draws on David Harvey’s notion of utopia and space to consider the imaginative possibilities of the students’ designs and ideas. The study uses a participatory research approach and documents the opportunities and challenges of this methodology. The thesis argues that school-community engagement within a "Thirdspace" offers many new opportunities for the emergence of authentic learning situations. Key findings from the study show young people’s participation in an urban planning project can achieve successful results when young people are given opportunities for full participation in decision-making processes; multiple pathways for active engagement are incorporated into the research design; opportunities for mentoring are provided; realistic timelines are communicated to all stakeholders and the needs and social practices of the local community are acknowledged. A new spatial model of community engagement is proposed as an outcome of the study. Unlike previous models of participation, this model demonstrates how exclusion and inclusion can be conceived visually, and may prove effective for conceptualising future community engagement projects that involve young people.

Empowering the school community for change : an evaluation of participation in the Ashgrove Healthy School Environment Project

The purpose of this study was to evaluate aspects of participation in a participatory action research project, the Ashgrove Healthy School Environment Project. Participatory action research is a form of research that creates change as an explicit part of the research process and requires the active participation of those by and for whom the research is being conducted. This study arose from concems by this researcher, who is also a co-facilitator of the project, that levels of participation were not as extensive as one might have hoped and that this seemingly low level would have a negative impact on the continuing participation of those already involved. Specifically. this evaluation sought to uncover the reasons that prompted participation, to identify structural barriers to initial involvement and to uncover participants' perceptions of the process, including barriers and opportunities. It also sought to record evidence of any shift in decision making and to draw implications about the findings that could assist the project, the school, other schools and the wider community. This evaluation involved focus group discussions and interviews with participants actively involved in the school project. The purpose was to uncover their views, feelings and perceptions about their participation and the participatory processes in use generally. It also included some examination of school documents and newsletters and as also drawn on the reflections of this 'insider' researcher, based on two years of involvement in facilitating the project. The findings that emerge from this study are heartening. Rather than feeling anxious about the long-term sustainability of the project, this researcher now feels more confident about its achievements, both in terms of the changes that have occurred in the school and about the participatory processes and levels of participation. Whilst the evaluation has identified a number of barriers, both institutional, personal and project related, it has also identified several key factors that serve to promote participation.

Enhancing teacher education : the School-Community Intergrated Learning (SCIL) pathway

National Australian reviews advocate exploring new models for preservice teacher education. This study investigates the outcomes of the School-Community Integrated Learning (SCIL) pathway as a model for advancing preservice teachers’ understandings of teaching. Thirty-two final-year preservice teachers were surveyed with extended written responses on how the SCIL pathway advanced their understandings of teaching. Results indicated 100% agreement on 6 of the 27 survey items. Indeed, 78% or more preservice teachers agreed that they had a range of experiences across the five categories (i.e., personal-professional skill development, understandings of system requirements, teaching practices, student behaviour and reflective practices). Extended responses suggested they had developed understandings around setting up classrooms, whole school planning processes with professional development, the allocation of teacher responsibilities (e.g., playground duties), parent-teacher interviews, diagnostic testing for literacy and numeracy, commencing running records of students’ assessment results, and the development of relationships (students, teachers and parents). Although a longitudinal study is required to determine long-term effects, the SCIL pathway may be viewed as a positive step towards preparing final-year preservice teachers for their first year as fully-fledged teachers.

Coteaching for parent-school-community engagement: Seen through the four resources model

This paper reflects on a 2008 project in which a teacher invited two parents1 of students in his class to coteach with him on the topic of War and Refugees (Willis, 2013). Although the project occurred in a Year eight context, it has utility for all teachers in showing how the four resources model (FRM) (Freebody and Luke, 1990) of language and literacy teaching and learning may provide a viewing platform for seeing the benefits and potential of coteaching for parent-school-community engagement. For decades, governments nationally and internationally have actively supported parentschool- community involvement initiatives. In Australia, these include the establishment in 2008 of The Family-School and Community Partnerships Bureau and its recent publication, Parental engagement in learning and schooling: Lessons from research (Emerson, Fear, Fox, and Sanders, 2012). These initiatives derive from strong, consistent research evidence that parent involvement in schools not only benefits students, teachers, and schools but also has wide-ranging implications for education reform, employers and communities, and ultimately Australia's future economic prosperity. These initiatives also continue to inform the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) in identifying ways teachers and school leaders can generate and sustain professional engagement with colleagues, parents, and the community to meet new national teaching standards.

The School-Community Integrated Learning pathway: Exploring a new way to prepare and induct final-year preservice teachers

Universities and teacher employment bodies seek new, cost-effective ways for graduating classroom-ready teachers. This study involved 32 final-year preservice teachers in an innovative school-university partnership teacher education program titled, the School-Community Integrated Learning (SCIL) pathway. Data were collected using a five-part Likert scale survey with extended written responses. Survey results showed that preservice teachers involved in the SCIL pathway learnt more about the teaching profession, which extended their usual university coursework. Furthermore, written responses suggested ways for advancing their understandings to ensure preservice teachers receive a quality school experience towards readiness for teaching.

Transitions: From novice participation to expertise, pre-school 'matters' in an Irish pre-school community

This in depth, qualitative, participant observer study tracks children's transition experiences from novice to experienced membership of their pre-school community. It also considers adult roles in mediating this process in the context of the recent introduction of a universal free-pre-school year for children growing up in Ireland. Participation and the space to negotiate a participatory identity is understood in this study as a key element of positive experiences of early years transitions, within pre-school and beyond. The underlying theoretical framework is socio-cultural. This approach shifts from a scientific positivist view of thinking and learning as an individual inside the head process and asserts the historical, social, cultural as well as the situated context of learning and meaning making All participants, including myself as researcher, are recognised, explored and valued as embedded in the cultural context studied. In a sense, this approach tilts the worlds being observed through participation in them and reflects them in new light. The aim is to interpret and reflect the multiple realities constructed in this context rather than seek a truth out there waiting to be found. Special efforts are made to be invited in to and acknowledge children's expertise in the cultural worlds they negotiate with peers and adults in pre-school. The aim is to better understand what children may find motivating, interesting or problematic as they interpret reproduce and transform meaning within their play and learning worlds. My aim is for an honest rendering of the voices of stakeholders in pre-school communities from teachers, parents, and policy makers to children themselves. It makes visible constraints; potentials and possibilities within everyday Irish pre-school practices in the situated context studied as well as the broader societal, legislative and macro policy influences it reflects. Casting light on the taken for granted opens the possibility of adaptation or transformation. Transition itself can act as a tool to meet the changing needs of children on their developmental pathways across the life cycle