Launched in 2021 by a team of undergraduate students, university faculty, associate researchers, and community partners collaborating as genuine equals in a diverse team, the Together Time Story Sacks intergenerational literacies program forms part of an ongoing action research project aimed at understanding and addressing barriers that residents…

We evaluate how the U-Links Centre for Community-Based Research (U-Links), a nonprofit organization that brokers research for community-based organizations with postsecondary institutions in Haliburton County, Ontario, has impacted this rural region of Ontario. Our approach uses contribution analysis and realist evaluation as layered tactics…

This qualitative pilot study introduces and reflects on early development and implementation of the Zero Fee Tuition (ZFT) program in the rural, oil and gas town of Drayton Valley, Alberta, Canada. This innovative, primarily municipally funded program, implemented in 2019, provides local students with up to $5,000 in free tuition for select…

Drawing from principles of ethical research derived from our review of national and international policy documents, in this paper we reflect on our research experiences working in partnership with Indigenous educators in a project to support young Indigenous children's oral and written language development through collaborative action research.…

Rural immigration is increasing, but still underrepresented in the literature. What does it mean to welcome well in places without large ethnocultural communities and the diverse range of supports dedicated to settlement and integration? What are the perceptions surrounding newcomer integration, and what experiences are newcomers having outside…

In rural Canada the issue of school closures and consolidations due to low enrollment and heightened fiscal constraints has become a contentious and highly charged issue for citizens and communities. This literature review synthesizes the major effects of school closure on rural communities, identifying economic impacts, social impacts, and…

In this article, we examine the development of a new, experiential learning human geography and planning course at a smaller campus in Newfoundland, Canada. Our interest is twofold: to consider how pedagogical approaches can be transferred between a large urban campus and a small-town location; and to examine the benefits and complications of such…

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine delivers medical education aiming to improve the health outcomes for persons living in Northern Ontario, including those in underserviced rural and geographically remote communities. Second year students experience rural medicine and living during two four-week long placements set in remote and rural…

University standards for attaining tenure-track positions, tenure, advancement of rank, and successful periodic evaluation in universities in the Global North primarily center on attainment of research grants and publications. This article considers the ethical implications of these values when action research projects are carried out with…

The question driving this study was: What makes rural secondary parents feel in community with their children's schools? Using a sociomaterial approach, data were collected from three rural schools in northern Alberta, Canada using walking interviews with parents in the schools, site observations, focus groups, and individual interviews with 21…

Rural social work education and practice in North America underwent a revival in recent decades and remains a valid praxis and pedagogic model for the 21st Century. The paper posits through rigorous literature review and analysis there are numerous elements central to North American (U.S. and Canadian) and Commonwealth of Nations (U.K., Australia,…

Research shows that consistent, supportive, and relevant professional development (PD) is an action that empowers educators to change. In the east central region of Canada, the sustainability of community colleges had been linked to program collaboration and internationalization which requires implementation of high-quality PD for its professors.…

Family-focused early learning programs aim to assist parents in supporting their young children language and literacy development. This study examined program access and learning opportunities for diverse families across a wide range of community-based settings in one eastern Canadian province. As well, the study examined practitioners'…

This paper summarizes themes of rural teaching and rural students' experiences of initial teacher education programs based on focus group data of 25 Canadian northern rural and Indigenous teachers and early childhood educators. Inductive analyses of focus group data identified themes related to living and teaching in northern rural communities. A…

Many small rural communities have a flow of skilled people through the community, including employees from the government, non government and private sectors on fixed-term contracts, and a range of professionals, often attracted by amenity and seeking a sea change or tree change. The aim of the study reported in this paper was to investigate how…