DO PRE-SCHOOL DISTANCE EDUCATORS REQUIRE SPECIALIST PREPARATION?

This paper examines the role of the pre-school distance educator to determine whether specialist preparation is required for pre-school teachers to function effectively as distance educators. In considering this role, this paper will examine the following key areas: 
1. urban and rural environments;2. the role of parents as educators;3. the preparation of pre-school teachers; and4. the preparation of pre-school teachers to teach in a School of Distance Education(SDE).

propose that the differences between the {WO are imaginru-y. Stevens (1989) suggests that there are stark contrasts between rural and urban communities and explains the diverseness in tenus of social, economic and technological dillercnces.
AusU"alia is one or the most highly urbanised counU"ies in tile world. In this scenario rural residents may perceive themselves as a minority group, negotiating their place in the wider community. The geographical location of rural populations hinders their accessibility to services and resourCes. Appeals by rural communities for access to llil educational service seen to equal urban are~L,:\, arc met by government policies and funding to provide services to equal those in cities (Dawkins and Kerin, 1989). .
Rural areas do not require rural education (an education, which prepares students for life in the rural community) but require an education (Clark, 1990) that will not discriminate or make the recipients dilTercnt fh)m those li ving in other arc:'ls to a greater degree than Uley would otherwise be. The concept "Education in Ruml Area," speaks of education applicable to all students living in all areas and including a component, the size and extent of which is most important, to meet the local community needs.
(Clark, S. 1990, p.43) Discontent w'ises when rural residents perceive that decisions concerning their educational needs are made in urhan areas with little consultation WiUl rural stakeho1ders. The feeling of an urban system being imposed on a rural environment is su·ong. Exrunples of Ulis ru'e: 1. tile "one best system model" (Nachtigal, 1982); and 2. tile "formal school system" which have legal and tlnancial means to conU"ol progrmnmes and a pool of .specialisL<.; available to work on educational developments. (Damel! and Higgins, 1983) Walton (1990) believes the basis of tile problem renects an urbffil misunderstanding of the rural context.

The recognition of the pm'ent as a: facililnlo!' and educator
Developmental psychology SUPP0l1S tilC concept of pm'enls as educators (Ilronfenbrenner, 1977;Goodsen andHess, 1975: Shcaefcr, 1972;and Wads worth, 1980) and acknowledges that parenL<'; exert a powerful and lasting influence on their children. Young children are dependent on tl1eir parents to: 2. As Ule pm-ent is viewed as Ule main facilitator and educator, much ofdle teacher's role will be oriented towards helping the pm-eIlt understand the "how", "what" and "why" of the eru·ly education process. WitllOut Ulis understrulding, Ille role of the parent hecomes suhsidiary to the Icacher rather lhail one gaining in competence.
3. The quality of the personal and professional interaction between teachers, pm-ents and children provides the most effective educational resource. While curricula mat.erials and content afe vitally important in all distance education programmes.
they should be perceived as a support only, otherwise Ille credibility and skills of a leacher and the pm'ent ru-e devalued. (Hru·ley, 1985;p. 162-163) In essence, a system which allows pm"Cnls and teachers to work together is required (Early Childhood Cnrriculum Project, 1992) however, teachers need to take Ule initiative to encourage pm-ents to be co-cducators and "kcy pcople" in their child's education.

Educational Preparation of Prc-school Teachers
Early childhood teather education programmes throughout Australia have undergone significant changes in the past decade. Over the past few YCtU's. Ulere have been a range of reports and reform paper~ that have contained implications for teacher education and for the employment of qualitied teachers within the eru-Iy childhood field. In developing pre-service courses for preschool teachers, staff within tertiru·y institutions proposed courses which built on existing programs, and at the same time considered CUlTCllt trends and issues relevant to the provision of service for children from hirth to eight ycars.
In a survey of every pre~servicc early childhood lcacher education course in Australia, Briggs (1984) poillls to an agreement mnongst early childhood educators whereby "child development" was considered as the basis for all curricu~L1m planning; However, there is a growing concern mnongst early childhood educators about the lack of child development courses in Australian universities. This has sillcc been exacerbated with the funalgfunation of universities and institutes of tertiary education, some of which offered specialised subjects such as "creative arts", lIsociaJ context of education", "exploring the environment", and "exploring literacy and numeracy".
As a consequence, inappropriate pIimary/secondru·y school subjects and foundations of education progrmnmes have been imposed on/increased in early childhood courses at the expen~e, of the child development, human relations, family and etlmic studie~ and opportunities to work with families in a wide range of services. The result is that some courses have moved fmtller away from client needs than ever bclbre. (Ilriggs, F. 1984;p.12) Those teachers receiving pre-~crvice preparation in an institution where early childhood is not an area of specialisation, but subsumed into the general teaching programme, enCQunter a diminished presentation of child development courses related to em-Iy childhood education and consequently suffer from inappropriate subjects imposed upon them for their areas of specialisation (Ilriggs, 1984). The structure of their courses has often been detennined by economic considerations and the pressure for flllionalization (Kast and Rosenzweig, 1973). When Briggs (1984) surv~yed early childhoou tcacher courses in Australia, it was apparent tertiary institutions were using markedly different methods, curricula and philosophies to prepare early chiltlhood teachers ror the work force, Of greatcr conccrn is the fact that emly childhood educators have all but lost control of the structure, and in· some c(lses, even the content of training for their own profession (Briggs. 1984), Course changes have OCCUlTCd at the instigation of adminisU'ators with expertise in other disciplines and have borne little or no relationship to workforce needs (Briggs, 1984). This has recently been highlighted if! the puhlication, "Early Childhood Education Project" E.C.E.P.
(1992) wherc respondenls were critical of thc lack of central philosophy or co-ordination at the state level that would ensure a cohesive em'ly childhood education policy across all sectors.
The boundm'ics of pre-service teacher education have become confused and a divergence of opinion exists between administrators and practitioners as to what is needed by employers and graduates.
Briggs (19X4) cites Kasl and Rosenzweig's experience where they found a profession (without control over its own training) "cannot respond quickly or efficiently to the needs of the client, the quality of the service deteriorates and in the long run the graduates become ullemployable,," (Brigs, F. 1984, p. 12) The Queensland Board of Teacher Education (Q.B.T.E.) however, claims the needs of heginning pre~school und kindergarten teachers ru'e adequately met.

The preparaliou of prc-school tcachers to teach in the School of Distance Education
Emly childhood prc-service teacher education per se is experiencing difficulties in quality course prepfu"[llion, The prepru'atioll of rural ecu"ly childhood teachers continues in a similar vein. Thc Commonwealth School's Commission into SchOOling in Rural Australia (1988) revealed that adjustment 10 rural teaching would be improved by pre-service preparation, but teacher u"aining institut.ions generally failed. to acknowledge the need for specialised training for rural appoinunents. This situation provides little opportunity for students to teach in a rural setting or acqu.ire an understanding of the needs of beginning teachers in sparsely populated regions (Young, 1981).

Teaching in rural ru-eas is now deemed a non-typical teaching experience (Hegtvedt-Wilson.
Hegtvedt and Bullock 19R2). Couuu'y scrvice is no longer a fore-gone conclusion, particularly if female eat'ly childhood tcachers marry emly on in illeir career. No course is available in any of the teacher education institutions in Queensland for pre-service training in early childhood distance education (Lambert, 1993;Ihu'ley, 1993). Grant et. al. (1978) in their study inlo "Teacher's Perceptions of tile Pre-school COlTespondence Progrrunmc" found that inexperience was hy far the most prominent factor'influencing the quality of interactions between parents and teachers via the correspondence school, (see Appendix: Tables 1 & 2). It was found that over sixty percent of the staff were under twenty five yems of age (Sec Appendix Table 3, Grant et. ai. 1978). In addition, over eighty percent of the teachers had no children of their own (Sce Appendix Table 4, Grant, et. ai. 1978) and therefore no first-hand experience with the role of mother or father. Some teachers had difticulty in transferring ille role of "teacher" 10 ille pat'ent and taking on the role of faeiIitator (See Appendix Table 5). Teachers who had resided in rural at'eas (58%) found it easier to cope Education in Rural Australia, Vol. 4 (I) ... Page 12 I with the demands of teaching by distance mode, than those who crune to the SDE in their first year as a teacher.

SUMMARY
The literature concerning Olis topic suggests that early childhood distance educators are prepared in institutions which fail to cater for the specialised needs of the rural situation.
Recognition is given to the place of parentis in the role of educator in the home-based learning environment. It also highlights tile importance of including courses, to develop interpersonal and communication skills in teacher cducation institutions. Finally, tile selection of teachers to teach in the SDE is cUlTently changing away from inexperienced teachers who have just completed their pre-service training to those who have more experience as a pre-school teacher, particularly in rural areas (Harley, 1993).

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The following discussion can be conceptualised into two tields. First, there is the functional Style (FS) and FacilitatorlEducator (FE) tield. Both FS and FE share common ideas about the uniqueness of the individual child and stress tile needs of each child (E.C.C.: 1978). Second, there is the Conventional Pre-school and School of Distance Education/Isolated Area tield. Both of tilese components share common ground with respect to children as individuals, growing and developing at their own rate.
These two fields can he represented along vertical and horizontal axes, (See Figure 1) and embedded in an environment where teachers and parents are partners.

PARTNERSHIP OF TEACHERS AND PARENTS
The axes in Figure I represent continua. The vertical axis represeuts tile scope of relating styles from tilOse tllut are limitless, to those that me restricted. The horizontal axis represents the continuum from couventioual prc-school ceutrcs to tile SDE. Each quadrant represents possible pennutations of relating styles between educator and child. It is hypothesised that conventional pre-schoo! leachers me found in quadrant two, whereas parents of distance education children will be more likely to be found in quadrant four (Hm'ley, 1985),

SPECIFIC QUI{STIONS:
The rest of this paper will he clevoted 10 exploring the following questions: 1. Are pre-sci1oo1 teachers in distance eelucation required to reconceptuaIise their role as a teacher? 2, Is "basic" pre-school teacher education sufficient prepm'ation for pre-school distance educators?
Question 1: Arc prc-school teachers in distance education required to reconceptualise their role a~ a leacher?
Hmley (1985) believes thal if early childhood distance education progrrunmes are to be more effective, a recollcepwaliSalio!1 of lheir role is required. The four key premises are as follows: 1. Differences in the settings. roles and role relationships between the structure of homeha.<;;cd and school-based programmes need to be acknowledged.
2. The role of the parent as the main educator and faciIitator must be clearly acknowledged.
3. The pm-ticular orientation of the role of the teacher, working in support of parents, needs (0 be identified. 4, The developmclll of effective interpersonal skills in working WiUl adults and children needs to be a requirement for all teachers working in early childhood dist'1nce education programmcs. (Harley, 1985: p,158) If pre-school distance education prognunmes focus on the development of curricula and the use of technology to implement programmes tilen, according to HaIley (1985), tiley are prescriptive and pre-emptive, Rather, the u'end must be to concentrate more on people, namely parents and children. This means tlUl! the home must be secn as an effective learning environm'ent and that parents must be seen as natural amI clTcctive educators of or for their children. Consequently, the progrrunmc must be based on a philosophy whose theoretical assumptions are indicative of home-based learning.
When tile programme works from the advantage of the home-based concept it also implies that: 1. leaming begins at birtll (md is a life long process; 2, pmcllls arc viewed as the primary educators of tileir children; 3, tilC 1~'Unily and communily arc major sources of educational influence; and 4. every individual is both a tcacher and a learner. (Harley,,1985;p,159) Education in Rural Australia, Vol. 4 (I) .. , Page 14 The challenge then lies in the training of teachers to be able to practise such conceptualisation.
Early childhood Iheory embrace~ Ihe four eoucepls ouilined above and seeks 10 prepare its teachers 10 Ihink in lllis mode. This is easy 10 aceepl in Iheory, but difliculi 10 put into practice even in the realms of a conventiona.l pre~school setting,

In a conventional pm-school programme, the teacher interacts with children in an environment
which has been specifically crealed for Ulis purpose with intennittent involvement by parents. Tbe teacber is trained to build a classroom climate which can facilitate a wide range of developmenlal objectives. The leacher has 10lal conlrol of Ihe program bOtll as faciIitator and practitioner.
In lhe home-based programme, it is the pment who interacts directly with the child within an environment where Ihe leachcr could be said 10 have inlermillent involvement. Tbe parent becomes a natural educator, while the teacher takes on a pastoral role. In this role t11e teacher becomes involved with a whole range of family dynamics and can be refell'ed to as "counsellor" (Harley, 1987).
This partnership would nol be usual in a convenlional pre-school selting. To work effectively in tllis parlnership dislance educalor~ would need 10 reconstruct their Ihinking about their role as "teacher" and their thinking about the environment in which they will work. There are differences belween Ihe e1a~~room selling and Ihe home where isolated children are educated. Since early childhood distance educators fllld conventional pre-school teachers experience similar pre-service training it is questionahle whether the "ba..~ic" preparation received in tertiary institutions is sufficient preparation for prc-school diSL:'lIlCe educators. .

Question 3: Do pre-school distance educators require specialist preparation?
From the material presented thus far it is clear the preparation of pre-school distance educators is found wanting in several areas. They appear to have a limited understanding of rural issues and lack confidence in relinquishing roles for which they have been u·ained. This has been due to a pre-service training which has lost its specificity in relation to the field of early childhood. Limited U'aining in tlle area of rclational skills has furtller complicated matters and in some cases hindered pmtnerships between pm'ents and tcachers.
All of tllese factors point to tlw inadequacies of eUlTent practices of selecting teachers to teach in the SDE. Whilst Ilnrley (1993) argues that many of tile skills m'e lem'ned on the job, results from the surveys still point to the nccd for specialist training to help teachers reconceptualise tileir roles and develop elTective interpcrsonal skills. In order to be effective distJlnce educators, teachers need to llnderSialld the difference between home-based teaching and school-based teaching. In essence it r~quircs teachers to participated in specialist in-service training which includes; a. opportunities to gain an understanding of t.he differences between rural,and urban areas.
b. interpersonal and communication skills c. strategies for re-evaluating one's role a.." a teacher; aqd d. a model of teaching where the teacher becomes a facilitator.

DISCUSSION
A distance education prognunrnc only exists because of a national policy on uiSL.'lnce education. which assumes (hat ruraiAustralians have traditionally participated in education and training to a lesser degree than their metropolitan counterparts (Dawkins and Kcrin, 1989). It is therefore, not only within the interests of rural people, to make education an equity issue. Thomas (1984) argues tl,lnl early childhood programmes :u'e advantageous for rural areas because of the academic benefit to children, and the support and training t.he programme gives to parents. This means teachers must be seen to practise the concept of "parents as partners in education" and promote home-bascd education as equitable to that of a conventional urban pre-school.
To do this distance educators will need well developed interpersonal skills. Rodd (1986) believes the complexities of communication and interpersonal skills can be tJlught, and should be an integral pm·t of the pre-scrvice ClIITiculum for beginning teachers. The 'introduction of integrated and systematic training in relational skills in pre~servicc teacher training could contribute to developing studcnts witll tlle abilities to deal with all kinds of people in a variety of situations, and provide knowledge and confidence to move successfully from one role to another when the situation requires it. This is dependent Oil individuals being willing to change as well as learn.  , 1986; p. 20 At the time of thesurveys (Grant, el. Ill. 1078) illlO the QPCU there was no comprehensive training in interpersonal and communication skills in earJy childhood teacher education within Queensland. This should not set a precedent [or future teacher training but rather raises tile matter as onc of urgency. Urgent in the sense that cuncnt distance educators will soon be aware of their deficiencies in these skills as they move into the school of distance educatioll.
It has been suggested emlier in this paper that cmly childhood teachers would need to reconceptualise their roles as leachers to be crJcclive distance educators. They must be provided with the opportunity to participate in in~servicc course which would give them a foundation to construct a mindscI that would enable such Cl rcconceptualisation.
For discussion purposes only, the following suggested subject is offered as a starting point. This subject would focus on the distance educator's role as facilitator and communicator. This subject would provide teachers with a Lheoretical t'rfunework against which they would develop tile critical skills, under::;tilndings and competencies needed for effective planning, counselling and administration in a di:-;tance education selling. This subject would enable teachers to develop clear, 1l0lHJci"en::;ive and productive communication skills essential in managing relationships in the work place Hnd enhancing organisational effectiveness.
SUBJECT OllTLINE: HOME BASED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES The year long subject will enahle teachers to: CONCLUSION It seems clear from the material presented that there is a need to introduce some form of specialised prep;u'ation for teachers contemplating employment in the pre-school unit of the SDE. It seems appropriate that this prepm"alion takes the form of an in-service course for teachers who have met stated criteria, outlined by Grant, et. al. in background infonnation at the outset of this paper.
As a result of this preparation, distance educators would have a positive attitude towards chauge and a willingness to rciinquish the control of their teaching role, becoming facilitators for the parents' expertise. They would sce themselves as leaders, guides and counsellors, practicing effective communication and interpersonal skills to ensure responsible and sensitive treatment of family situations.
They would explain educational concepts clearly so that parents could understand and implement tllcm. After completing their training. dj,stance educators wou1d demonstrate the value of working in pm·tncrship with families in the education process, rather than upholding a philosophy that merely imposes the structure of the SDE on the parents of isolated children.
Such a role sUfely requires the position of distance educator to be regarded as a specialist position, and beyond tile experience of beginning teachers exiting teacher education institutions.
The specialist pl'cpm'ation required for teacher:.; considering teaching in early childhood distance education programmes must go beyond what is currently available in general pre-service teacher prepru'ation if the goals of home-based education and education in rural areas are to be realised.