McConaghy suggests that improving quality learning outcomes for students in NSW rural and remote schools requires "bold pedagogical solutions ... developed in and for the specific contexts of rural NSW schooling" (2002, p.3). This paper seeks to identify elements of this pedagogical solution that could be incorporated into pre-service preparation courses as "teacher preparation ... is of real and growing importance in the provision of rural and remote schooling" (Green, in preface to Boylan, 2003, p.1). Specifically it addresses pedagogies that are based on a multi-age philosophy and the importance of place and suggests these as elements to underpin pre-service teacher education courses.