Focusing on two isolated rural communities in South Australia which have experienced a sense of isolation for a long time (The South-East and Eyre Peninsula), the paper presents an examination of the pattern of educational needs and interest of residents in isolated rural communities, and their relation to the changing social and educational…

I have been responsible for the teaching of a secondary teacher education unit called Educational Issues (EDN 482) for the past seven years, in the Faculty of Education in a small, regional Australian University. A brief look at the map will show how geographically isolated form the main centres of population in Australia, Northern Territory…

This report examines the challenges facing young people living in rural Australia in relation to their health and well-being and explores the relevance of personal resilience to offset these challenges. Specifically, the report synthesizes the literature on rural Australian youth and the results of focus groups undertaken in five rural…

The question of the extent to which effective leadership in vocational education and training (VET) depends on the specific context in which it occurs was examined. Data were collected from the following sources: an intensive literature analysis; studies of purposive sample of 12 diverse VET sites across Australia; and individual interviews with…

The Priority Country Area Program is a Rural Education Program funded by the Commonwealth Schools Commission and jointly administered by the Queensland (Australia) Department of Education and the Queensland Catholic Education Office. The program develops educational strategies to address problems engendered by the social and geographical nature of…

A review of papers produced by the United States-Australia Education Policy Project identifies implications of Australia's educational policies and structures for U.S. educational policy in the areas of equality, diversity, professional development, and control or governance. In educational equality the author examines, first, fiscal equity,…

The Instrumental Music Program Unit in the South-West Priority Country Area (a vast, generally arid hot region some 800 km by 450 km) is a unique, dynamic, and successful program, enjoying an extremely high degree of enthusiastic support from all involved--administrators, instructors, students, schools, and communities. Begun in 1977, there are…

A total of 3,732 recipients of Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) allowances during 1979 and 1980 received questionnaires and parents of 313 families were interviewed to determine who benefitted from the AIC Scheme, what use was made of the AIC allowance, what effect did the AIC Scheme appear to have had, and what anomalies existed in relation…

This paper has attempted to highlight some economic aspects of government cash benefits (particularly those in Queensland) to isolated rural families which enable children to live away from home (LAFH) to receive their schooling. It has considered allowances as welfare payments and has examined some of their equity and efficiency implications.…

Case studies of two small rural schools in Western Australia were conducted to examine the contention that neglect of distinctive economic, social and demographic environments of schools in rural areas has led to a tendency for rural schools to become carbon copies of urban schools, and thus to a mismatch between educational provision and the…

Evaluation of the Mobile Classroom Project, which provided complementary and supplementary educational experiences not available through the Primary Correspondence Schools (PCS) for 58 isolated country children in Central Queensland during 1978 and 1979, used personal observations; comments from parents, home supervisors, and key educators…

The 20th National Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia (SPERA) and Western Australia District High School Administrators' Association (WADHSAA) joint conference proceedings, based on the theme "Working Together, Staying Vital," was held in Fremantle, Perth, Western Australia, in June 2004. The proceedings contain 13…

The imbalances between the higher education participation of rural and urban Australians are significant and persistent. This study examined the attitudes, goals, and plans of Australian senior high school students via a survey of over 7,000 students in grades 10-12 in three states, complemented by interviews with about 350 students in 20 rural…

Extensive fieldwork and a questionnaire were used to study the population served by primary distance education (k-6), the perceived needs of home tutors, and the adequacy of support services provided by distance primary schools in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory. The fieldwork phase found two major types…

A study of three rural high schools in northern Tasmania (Australia) examined why vocational education and training (VET) programs had been established and what made them work. Three principals, four VET coordinators, and nine students were interviewed and two student focus groups were conducted. Results indicate that VET programs were established…