Building a Sense of Community Belonging : Making Mobile Families Wwelcome in a Rural Australian School

Robyn Henderson

doi:10.47381/aijre.v27i2.113

Building a Sense of Community Belonging

Making Mobile Families Wwelcome in a Rural Australian School

Authors

Robyn Henderson University of Southern Queensland http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7906-766X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v27i2.113

Keywords:

mobility, rural schooling, literacy education, transition, belonging

Abstract

Seasonal farm workers play an important economic role through their contributions to annual harvests and the fact that they spend income in the community where they sojourn. However, research shows that farm workers and other temporary residents are often socially marginalised in rural communities and feel as though they are outsiders who do not belong. This paper reports research that focused on a primary school in a rural community in Australia, where seasonal mobile farm workers arrived for the annual harvest. Using a single case study design, the research demonstrated that the school made a deliberate attempt to welcome newly-arrived students and their families into the school community. Using a whole school strategy, the school staff aimed to meet families' and students' social needs, thereby building a sound foundation for the academic work of schooling. However, the data and data analysis also suggested that the school's strategy was helping to work against the deficit discourses that operated in the broader community, thus demonstrating the school's role as a hub for the community's socio-educational development.

Author Biography

Robyn Henderson, University of Southern Queensland

Robyn Henderson is an Associate Professor at the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. She is interested in the intersection between student mobility and literacy education, particularly in rural communities. She is also keen to further develop how knowledge about student mobility can be used to inform and enhance teachers' pedagogical work in classrooms.

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Published

19-08-2017 — Updated on 01-07-2017

Versions

01-07-2017 (2)
19-08-2017 (1)

How to Cite

Henderson, R. (2017). Building a Sense of Community Belonging : Making Mobile Families Wwelcome in a Rural Australian School. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 27(2), 18–30. https://doi.org/10.47381/aijre.v27i2.113 (Original work published August 19, 2017)

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Issue

Vol. 27 No. 2 (2017): Rural Schools as Hubs for the Socio-Educational Development of Communities

Section

JOURNAL PAPERS

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