Bush Tracks: Journeys in the Development of Rural Pedagogies

Abstract

The academic and social achievements of students in rural schools are very unevenand often absenteeism and suspension rates are high. Factors such as globalisation,economic restructuring, unemployment, youth suicide and family trauma, drought andenvironmental change (see Bourke & Lockie 2001) also impact on rural schoolingand add further challenges to good teaching and learning in rural schools. As complexprocesses involving cognitive, contextual and affective understandings, ruralpedagogies need to be situated within rural contexts (McConaghy & Burnett 2002).How do rural teachers respond to the challenges in rural communities and schools thatmake quality learning for all students a difficult task? What pedagogies do beginningrural teachers use, why and with what effects? What images do beginning teachershave of 'the good teacher' and 'the good student' in rural schools and what are theobstacles to becoming these? What professional learning communities are available tobeginning teachers in rural schools, and how effective are they in supportingbeginning teachers to work through their identity issues and pedagogical challenges?Our case study and survey data provides valuable information about the livedexperiences of rural teachers in relation to their journeys in pedagogy for teacherprofessional learning programs.