No abstract

I SSUES of teacher recruitment and retention in rural and isolated areas have received considerable attention in Australia and North America. Research findings have influenced policy and many training incentive programs and packages are in place. Little attention, however, has been given to long-staying rural teachers and why they are satisfied to stay in locations which others in the profession find disagreeable. This report analyses available studies and, among other things, reveals much variation in the definition of 'long-staying'. A survey was administered to 427 long-staying rural teachers, teachers who had been in their current school for at least six years and were not planning to move within twelve months. It sought information on professional pre-and inservice education, satisfaction, commitment and community. There emerged a profile of a professionally satisfied, community integrated, family oriented teacher who enjoyed the rural lifestyle and environment. The results carry strong messages for teacher education and teacher selection processes.

Many Alaskan schools are located in extremely remote or 'fly-in' places. These geographical extremes affect the recruitment and retention of teachers to remote rural schools. Through a partnership between the Southwest Region School District of Alaska and the Department of Education at Alaska Pacific University (APU), 14 pre-service teachers participated in a one-week remote rural practice teaching experience. These APU students lived and taught in village schools where indigenous Alaska Natives were the majority and whose language is Yup’ik. Through the use of pre and post experience questionnaires, the pre-service teachers’ views about rural teaching and seeking rural appointments were sought.

Learnscapes are places where learning has been designed in ways that enhance the interaction with an environment (Tyas-Tunggal, 1997). A small rural primary school has creatively adopted a Learnscape as a significant focus to engage with its community. Within the school the Learnscapes Program works from the classroom to the playground and from there to the broader community to create a new place for learning. The Learnscapes Program allows cross curriculum boundaries to emerge and in the case of this school facilitates active participation with the school community, in ways that reengage culture, the community and curriculum. The experiences of this rural school as it promotes learning across the whole community through the exploration of Indigenous culture using Learnscapes are documented.

Preparing teachers for rural school appoinunents through including courses in their pre-service program that examine issues about rural lifestyles, community participation, and provide opportunities for multigrade and rural practice teaching experiences have been identified as an important teacher recruitment strategies for rural schools (Watson, et al., 1986; Smith-Davis, 1989; Cross and Murphy, 1990; Luft, 1992). One research outcome from these studies suggests that when students are provided with these components in their pre-service courses their preparedness to seek and/or accept a rural appoinunent is enhanced.