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This paper presents the rationale for the development of an elementary teacher training program designed to prepare students to teach in rural areas. The Province of British Columbia (Canada) is a vast geographic region populated by only two and a quarter million people. Most reside in rural communities ranging in population from a few hundred to several thousand. The schools in these small communities are the focal point of the teacher training program. At present most teacher training programs prepare students for teaching positions in urban centers and large rural communities. The University of Victoria, British Columbia, structured a training program to develop teachers specifically for these small communities. This program incorporates 2 years of univesity study with two years of "first hand" experience of teaching and living in an isolated settlement. Students complete several community, school, and classroom projects dealing with the unique environment of a small rural settlement. To be awarded a Bachelor of Education degree, the students complete a fifth year of study at the main campus of the University. The rural elementary teacher training program more adequately prepares students for careers in rural schools and sensitizes them to the professional life of a rural teacher. Graduates of this program embark on their professional careers in rural communities with greater confidence. A chart outlining the time frame of the program is given. This paper contains 16 references. (ALL)

This paper describes a special elementary teacher education program developed at the University of Victoria, British Columbia (Canada). Designed to prepare students for rural teaching positions, this program consists of two years of university level education and two years of practice in a rural community. The educational system in the Province of British Columbia has been characterized by diminishing resources, declining enrollment, and increasing expenditures. Demand for teachers, especially in urban centers, has drastically declined, but vacancies for teachers continue to exist in rural areas. Rural teachers, however, are very mobile, either securing positions in large communities or leaving the classroom to begin new careers. Studies indicate rural teacher mobility is caused by geographic isolation, lack of privacy, and limited professional contacts. Another reason contributing to mobility is a lack of preparation for either the unique learning environment of rural schools or the intimate relationship between rural schools and their local communities. The early field experience described in this paper allows students to study the rural community as a total entity and places the schools in a community context. Required activities include community and classroom projects. Education students trained in this program are expected to provide rural children with a high quality of instruction when they become practicing professional educators. An awareness of life in a rural community will also enable them to adjust more easily to the socio-cultural milieu of a small town. Both these outcomes are expected to reduce the mobility of rural teachers. A chart outlines the chronology of the program. (ALL)

A survey concerning teacher mobility, completed by 94 past and current teachers in a rural British Columbia school district, found that teachers left because of geographic isolation, weather conditions, distance from larger communities and family, and inadequate shopping facilities. Teachers stayed because of their principal, spouse employment in the community, and satisfaction with the rural life style. (TD)

Reports a survey of 528 rural British Columbia teachers to determine their levels of satisfaction with the quality of their working lives. Notes the major sources of dissatisfaction and satisfaction reported by the respondents. Describes the research procedure used and includes detailed tabular results. (SB)

A questionnaire mailed to 528 teachers in rural British Columbia sought opinions on their conditions of work, professional autonomy, and interactions with students and administrators. Responses suggest policy changes to reduce high rate of teacher turnover. (JW)

To discover how rural teachers in British Columbia felt about the quality of their work life, researchers surveyed all 1,148 teachers in the 242 elementary and secondary British Columbia schools that met the project's definition of "rural." Questionnaires, returned by 528 teachers (46%) were divided into five major areas: work conditions, teaching related matters, teaching matters, student related matters, and occupation related matters. Only 22% of the respondents were moderately or highly satisfied with their appointments. The majority were disenchanted with the quality of their work life. The teachers expressed major dissatisfaction with the public's perception of schools and teachers and with school board policies concerning professional development (sabbatical leave, inservice opportunities, formal study), contractual agreements (board-teacher consultations, retirement benefits), personnel matters (promotion, evaluation, hours for preparation and correction, involvement in district decision-making), and support services (consultation, aides, student diagnostic services). Teachers found satisfaction in those aspects of teaching which nurtured affiliation, professional esteem, and achievement. They were pleased with negotiated benefits, most teaching matters, professional relationships, and opportunities for local decision-making. The results can be used to acquaint graduating students with rural teachers' perceptions of their work and to extend the understanding of high teacher turnover. (SB)

For decades, teachers in British Columbia's rural schools have been expected to be professionally up-to-date but have had limited access to continuing professional education. The rough terrain and great distances between communities have made the provision of continuing professional education expensive and difficult. Their lack of access to continued training has been a major source of dissatisfaction among rural teachers. However, experiments since 1979 with interactive satellites and teleconferencing suggest that the traditional barriers to providing continuing training for professional groups in remote communities may have been overcome. The experiments include the interactive satellite transmission of an undergraduate course, four hours per week of live interactive programming for various professional groups, and plans for courses designed around a teleconferencing bridge allowing student-teacher conversation via long distance telephone lines. (SB)

The demand for postsecondary education on a part-time basis has been rising rapidly in Canada, due in part to the growing need of students to maintain full-time employment and due also to increasing requests for continuing professional education. Since part-time students are often unable to attend regularly scheduled classes and may find frequent trips to the campus from their places of work impossible (particularly when they live in remote locations such as those of rural British Columbia), the universities must seek new ways of meeting these clients' needs. For effective delivery of professional continuing education, the ideal approach might be to cooperate with professional organizations to provide requested services, to develop new services based on the needs of the educational marketplace, and to assess potential learners' skills and knowledge to help identify the needs that exist. The Division of University Extension at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, has turned to distance education, satellite transmission of educational television, and telephone hookups to provide real time interaction between instructors and distant students. Costs are met in part by providing necessary supplementary printed materials only to those officially registered. (PGD)

This study was designed to determine which items of an adult education administrator's worklife were sources of dissatisfaction in the present socioeconomic climate. (JOW)