Community Beliefs about Rural and Regional Education and Students' School Completion

Watson, Jane; Wright, Suzie; Beswick, Kim; Allen, Jeanne; Hay, Ian; Cranston, Neil

doi:10.47381/aijre.v27i3.185

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…More research is required, particularly research that includes the beliefs and opinions of community members themselves. The survey outcomes on community beliefs serve as benchmarks for comparison (Watson et al, 2017), as does the degree of involvement with schools described by participants in the current report. The wealth of endnotes verifying the existence of programs offered is important not only for the validity of the research but also for reference in relation to future research to follow up on the involvement.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For the surveys of community members, the questions were divided into two parts for reporting. As well as the analysis presented here, survey questions related to beliefs concerning the community and school retention were analysed separately (Watson et al, 2017).…”

Section: Local Background and Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The contested use of the term "community" (see e.g., Corbett, 2014;Fendler, 2006) and the definition adopted by the research team that the participants were a subset of the larger society in which the education of school children takes place, are discussed earlier and in other reports for the larger research study (Watson et al, 2015(Watson et al, , 2016a(Watson et al, , 2017. The participants in this research could not be a random sample of the population of community members in Tasmania because it was impossible to define the population precisely due to the method used to approach potential participants, and responses had to be voluntary for ethical reasons.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Increasing Students' Social Capital through Community Involvement in Rural and Regional Education

Watson

Wright

Allen

et al. 2022

AIJRE

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School and community interaction is an important topic in education, as evidence suggests that communities that value their local schools engender more positive long-term outcomes and a strengthening of the social capital for the students from those schools. Although school and community interaction has been explored from the school's perspective, less research has occurred from the perspective of the key stakeholders and leaders of a community, particularly in rural, regional, and disadvantaged areas. The context for this exploration is the Australian state of Tasmania, and the research findings may have implications for policy makers, school leaders, and teachers both nationally and internationally. Eighty-six community leaders and community members from rural, regional, and disadvantaged areas of the state responded to a survey, which included indicating the level and type of involvement they and their organisations had with local schools. The evidence from their comments suggests that community, business, and social leaders can play an important role in building social capital and as advocates for their local schools, as well as being a source of information, advice, and service to schools. In particular, this paper provides a foundation for future research with community members on their involvement in schooling and the impact of this involvement on students' social capital.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Local Background and Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Increasing Students' Social Capital through Community Involvement in Rural and Regional Education

Watson

Wright

Allen

et al. 2022

AIJRE

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Teachers’ beliefs related to secondary school completion: associations with socio-educational advantage and school level

et al. 2019

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This research used the responses of 187 Tasmanian teachers to a questionnaire comprising 52-Likert-type items, two multiple choice items, and two open-response items to investigate differences in teachers' beliefs about aspects of schooling related to students' secondary school completion. Exploratory factor analysis of responses to the Likert-type items identified 3 factors underpinning Teachers' responses. These were: 1) Student and parent aspirations, 2) Teacher and school quality and support, and 3) Expectations for continuing education. Two-way ANOVAs showed that primary school teachers scored higher on average than secondary teachers for Student and parent aspirations, and there was an interaction between level of schooling and Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) for this factor. Descriptive statistics were used to compare responses to the multiple choice items of teachers at different levels of ICSEA and schooling. Open response items were categorised in two ways: 1) as related to Pastoral, Academic, or Engagement matters, and 2) as negative or positive in relation to each of students, parents, and teachers. The results highlighted less academic and more pastorally focussed cultures in Year 7-10 schools compared with Year 11-12 schools and relatively low expectations for university study across the levels of schooling. The findings implicate teachers' beliefs about students and their families as crucial to influencing educational aspirations and attainment.

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Responding to the Demands of the STEM Education Agenda: The Experiences of Primary and Secondary Teachers from Rural, Regional and Remote Australia

Fraser

Beswick²,

Crowley³

2019

J-STEM

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In recent years STEM education has been the focus of Australian government funding initiatives, policy and curriculum development at the national and state levels and a key driver of school innovation. Principals, teachers and students have been called upon to develop their capability and interest in the individual STEM discipline subjects or to engage in interdisciplinary STEM activities. Much of the focus on STEM has been driven by a national agenda informed by the needs of industry, and research that indicates that the students graduating from schools and universities today with STEM qualifications will not be sufficient for society’s needs. While the agenda encompasses more than individual teachers or schools, it is teachers who are at the forefront of its implementation in classrooms. In this paper we report on the perceptions of teachers about issues impacting on the effective teaching of STEM in rural, regional and remote Australia, and strategies they use to overcome issues/barriers and building the confidence and capacity of STEM teachers. Based on these, the paper reports some potential solutions to the issues faced by schools in rural, regional and remote Australia addressing the demands of the STEM Education focus.

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Community Beliefs about Rural and Regional Education and Students' School Completion

Cited by 3 publications

References 19 publications

Increasing Students' Social Capital through Community Involvement in Rural and Regional Education

Increasing Students' Social Capital through Community Involvement in Rural and Regional Education

Teachers’ beliefs related to secondary school completion: associations with socio-educational advantage and school level

Responding to the Demands of the STEM Education Agenda: The Experiences of Primary and Secondary Teachers from Rural, Regional and Remote Australia

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