Across Australia, COVID-19 has certainly disrupted our lives. For many researchers it has caused us to push the pause button on our activities and rejig our timelines, our methods and our ethics approvals to suit the changed conditions. As an educational researcher in the Northern Territory, my plans between March and July 2020 were thrown out the…

This paper seeks to develop a case for (re)thinking education and sustainability with specific reference to rural Australia. It proposes a critical view of rural-regional sustainability, taking into account notions of bioregionality and ecosocial change. Two key points are made. One is the assertion that rural education as such is better…

For the final assessment piece of her Bachelor of Education the author was asked to use the STELLA Standards Framework (Standards for Teachers of English Language and Literacy in Australia) to critically analyse and reflect on personally significant incidents which occurred during her final practicums. The objective was to be able to communicate…

Describes a solution to the problem of providing comprehensive vocational programs in small secondary rural schools. (Editor)

A teacher intern discusses her experiences in Bendick Murrell Public School in rural New South Wales, and the benefits of attending a small school. The school's own initiatives include literacy targeting, an extensive music education program, an Indonesian language program, extended sporting opportunities, public speaking and debating, computer…

A teacher intern describes her experiences in a small K-6 school in rural, central west New South Wales (Australia), focusing on community and parent involvement in the school, the benefits of multigrade classes, the close relationships of students and staff, and extracurricular activities. (SV)

Analyzes interview findings related to the experiences of a teacher in a one-room school in rural Australia during 1937-39. Describes his required three-year appointment to a rural school, the school setting, teacher responsibilities, student characteristics, curriculum, and departmental inspections that involved evaluation of children's academic…

The Isolated Schools' Project offers final-year preservice teachers the opportunity to experience teaching in a nonevaluated situation in a rural or remote part of Queensland (Australia). Two student teachers describe their three-week experiences in isolated one-room schools. (SV)

The article discusses the educational situation in Queensland and offers an alternative to the present open education plan. It suggests: that traditional education is appropriate for teaching basic skills, as in specific areas of mathematics where one level of mastery may depend on certain knowledge at a lower level; that curricula which are…

A final-year student teacher from the University of Southern Queensland (Australia) describes her student teaching experiences in a one-room school in the isolated town of Birdsville, focusing on the harsh natural environment, the demands of a multiage classroom, and positive attributes of the small school and community involvement. (SV)

A final-year student teacher from the University of Southern Queensland (Australia) describes her student teaching experiences at Gunpowder State School, an isolated one-room school in central Queensland, focusing on techniques for managing the multiage classroom and teacher-community relationships. (SV)

A beginning teacher appointed to a remote Aboriginal school in the Northern Territory (Australia) describes experiences that led him to question his worth as a teacher, including social and professional isolation, his idealistic expectations of becoming a teacher, and difficulties in teaching students of various ages and academic levels. (LP)

This brief address was given by a Australian dairy farmer, who served as a parent representative on a committee of teachers at a local school. The speaker draws his observations from his experience "bridging the gap" between teachers' understanding of school operations and the views of rural parents. Rural values, or "peasant…

The success of the Minimbah Aboriginal Preschool in New South Wales (Australia) is evidenced by happy staff and children, low staff turnover, and the later success of Minimbah's children in mainstream schools. Also, parents were frequently present as helpers and were apparently confident in entering the premises, talking with staff members, and…

A 5-year study of one-teacher schools was conducted by a single researcher in the remote North West Region of New South Wales, Australia. A personal narrative discusses problems of longitudinal research, peculiarities of gathering data in the chosen region, the close relationship of these isolated schools and their communities, and problems and…