Contemporary Paradigms of Rural Teaching: The Significance of Place

Abstract

This paper begins by setting the scene with an overview of a recent literature review examining teacher preparation for rural and remote settings. The discussion considers the relevance of the findings, exploring possibilities of reconceptualising rural teacher education. The next section of the paper engages with a move away from a deficit model and negative perceptions of rural Australia, to consider more contemporary paradigms of rural teaching. Two studies will be presented which have drawn upon various research methods and conceptual frameworks to inquire with families and teachers about the everyday life of living and working in rural and/or remote locations. The research methods and conceptual frameworks of the studies shared in this paper contribute to on-going research and offer possible foci for conversations about enabling approaches for rethinking rural and remote locations as not simply a physical location, but the ‘whole experience of being there’. The findings of the literature review and the two studies suggest that more attention to the personal, interpersonal and collective experiences of (rural) place, in both pre-service teacher preparation and early career teacher support, may assist in teacher transitions into rural and remote education settings.