In the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, rural schools are increasingly organised within digital environments, facilitating synergy between in-service and pre-service teachers. The integration of educational theory and teaching practice that is integral to the preparation of teachers for initial positions in rural schools is also…

The research outlined in this paper is based on the convergence of two conceptual frameworks that guide the transfer of knowledge and skills from traditional teacher education, which focused on teaching in single classrooms, to open networked learning environments that include both inter-institutional teaching and learning and local and global…

Schools have always been central to rural communities, but today they are critical to the sustainability of social and economic life for people who live beyond major centres of population. The development of virtual structures and processes that enhance classes in and between rural schools has provided extended educational and, indirectly,…

Australia and Canada are large countries with small populations relative to their size, in which a not inconsiderable number of citizens live beyond major centres of population. In both resource-based economies, the provision of quality education in rural schools is an important part of the national social and economic infrastructure. This article…

The introduction of web-based education in Canadian schools, as in other developed countries, has been particularly noticeable in rural areas. Small schools in rural communities have continued to get smaller as families relocate in urban areas in search of increased educational and vocational opportunities. There are a number of issues common to…

The introduction of inter-school electronic networks has added a new dimension to education in Canada that has many implications for students who attend schools in rural communities. Collaborative internet-based teaching and learning and the creation of virtual classes within regional intranets now complement traditional on-site instruction in…

Twenty-four young teachers from urban backgrounds, teaching in two rural Queensland secondary schools, were surveyed about their relationships with students, the community, and administrators; teaching conditions; their satisfaction with teaching, in general and in a rural community; and their career plans. Contains 35 references. (SV)

Reviews a New Zealand report titled, "Report of the Economic and Educational Viability of Small Schools Review." Discusses the four aspects of small schools considered in the report: (1) educational viability; (2) economic viability; (3) relationships of small schools with their communities; and (4) conflict between availability and…

Distance education can improve rural education by alleviating geographic isolation of small rural schools and increasing educational opportunities for both students and teachers. In Australia, distance education technologies include telecourses for staff development and an electronic mail and bulletin board system linking schools. (LP)

Tenth-grade students in many rural Australian schools must make decisions regarding their careers and whether they want to migrate to urban areas to complete their education. A study in a small, rural Australian community of the vocational choices of 30 10th-grade students revealed fundamental social differences between working- and middle-class…

This paper describes two pilot programs that are developing networks among rural New Zealand schools to address the educational isolation of students. A program located in the South Island consists of a consortium of six small rural high schools using distance education technology to offer an expanded curriculum to rural students. The goal of the…

This paper examines school management and decision-making practices in four small rural New Zealand secondary schools. During the late 1980s, national legislation was enacted that established local school governance by elected boards of trustees. A national teachers' union felt that teachers and their unions had been marginalized from…

The TeleLearning and Rural Education Centre was established in January 1997 at Memorial University of Newfoundland, in one of the most sparsely populated and economically depressed areas of Canada. Of 462 schools in Newfoundland and Labrador, 66 percent are rural and over half have enrollments of under 200 students. The Centre was established to…