Outlines the policy framework for vocational education and training (VET) in New South Wales (Australia), provision of VET through distance education to isolated learners and students in small rural schools, issues related to the child-to-adult transition of isolated students, and the varying educational needs of students following five different…

The Australia-Indonesia Institute developed a program to promote greater mutual understanding between Indonesians and rural Australians, in which Indonesian teacher education students spent a month in rural New South Wales, Australia. They taught Indonesian language and culture in 47 local schools and gave rural teachers of Indonesian the…

Beginning health and physical education (HPE) teachers in rural and urban secondary schools in Australia shared concerns surrounding the status of HPE, HPE teachers' responsibilities, the routine nature of HPE teaching, sexual harassment, and public scrutiny of HPE teachers' lives. Suggests that teacher education programs address the problematic…

Australian teacher education students responded to a questionnaire evaluating telematics teaching and learning strategies introduced in their preservice rural education courses. Overall, students responded positively, indicating that the technology was easy to use and that it was a good way of providing quality education and curriculum diversity…

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)

A survey in isolated areas of Australia examined education-related attitudes of 122 parents of children with mild or moderate disabilities. The survey covered demographic data on respondent and child, degree and type of disability, location and providers of educational program, distance from school, resources at home, support needed, impact of…

It is perhaps too easy to suggest that rurality in educational terms has been largely missing from the pages of educational research texts. A search of the past few AARE annual conference papers throws up few papers on this topic; although an issue of "Australian Journal of Education" includes a paper on long-staying rural teachers (Boylan &…

Questionnaires completed by Australian preservice teachers before and after practical experiences in isolated rural settings revealed the value of these experiences in developing positive attitudes toward teaching in rural schools and in sensitizing teachers to the culture and conditions associated with teaching in rural areas. (LP)

A rural health care staff development unit in New South Wales (Australia) switched from face-to-face teaching to a model encompassing competency-based training, recognition of prior learning, portfolio assessment, and flexible delivery using telecommunications technologies. Recommendations for ongoing implementation and marketing of…

Discusses semantic complexities rampant in attempts to define rurality. Examines environmental and economic aspects of rurality and impacts on education. Proposes a definition of rurality based on five human considerations: approximate geographic divisions, level of access to community services, industry type, population makeup, and the…

Describes a collaborative project designed to better prepare Australian preservice teachers for teaching in remote schools through six-week rural mentorship programs and joint preservice and inservice professional development. Discusses how development of partnerships among cooperating institutions and between teachers, student teachers, and the…

By wedding itself to the "ideology of sport" and associated notions of "manliness," physical education in Australia has retained little scope to advocate for cultural diversity. By maintaining that sport is universally popular amongst all children, physical education silences other ways in which children might find pleasure…

Rural school improvement requires that state educational policies empower rural educators to attempt innovative programs. After extensive grassroots input, the Alaska Legislature defined seven statewide educational needs relating to poor school performance. A Washington education reform bill allows schools to do anything not expressly forbidden by…

Ag-Ed, an agricultural education project for upper elementary students, was held in conjunction with the Toowoomba Show in Queensland, Australia. Agriculture industry representatives provided 20 interactive agricultural presentations for class groups, which were supplemented with a teacher resource-package containing a directory and 13 sections of…

A survey of 281 rural Australian high school students in grades 10-12 found that academic achievement was the most important predictor of continuation to university. A survey of 125 of these students who attended college found that high school academic achievement and college course satisfaction predicted success in first-year courses. Contains 15…