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Rurality in education research is a function of the size of the school, the distance of a school in relation to urban areas, and factors within each school that may differentiate the school community based on geography. Distance matters. This study finds variation between rural communities at different distances from an urban center and differences based on analysis of student groups and student outcomes within a locale. By taking a granulated geographic approach to rurality we can better compare differences within locales. This analysis of the distance a student lives from school highlights socioeconomic differences between student groups. One related measure is the degree to which income estimates explain variation in student outcomes. Out-of-town students in rural areas have lower family incomes. These income data explain fewer school-level student outcomes than for students who live near to school. Use of data pertinent to students who live near to school reflects a certain bias in poverty measures and may not include variation in family income of students at a distance from school.

This paper aims to determine the challenges and recommendations of an effective writing retreat, investigated from the attendees' experiences and the facilitators of writing retreats held by an accounting college of an (Open distance e-learning) ODeL institution from 2016 to 2022. The researchers purposively sampled sixteen researchers for interviews from the attendees of the writing retreats, namely--four proven researchers, four emerging researchers, eight developing researchers--and two organisers. The researchers captured the participants' experiences during the writing retreats, challenges, and recommendations for an effective writing retreat. The findings reveal that writing retreats face budget approval issues, undefined objectives, noise, unfocused attendees and non-stop emails and calls from work. Recommendations for effective writing retreats were: organisers need timely budgetary support from the organisation, researchers need subject experts, peer review, ongoing support, accountability, clear retreat objectives, and attendees setting pre-retreat goals to improve the retreat's success. Additionally, a far-from-home venue and tranquil environment are important.

The academic study of harsh vocals has been gaining traction of late, as the physiology (Eckers et al., 2009), creative attributes (Di Lorenzo & Trantino, 2016) and socio-political ramifications (Heesch, 2019) of usage have been covered in some depth by existing literature. However, formalised pedagogical study around the technique is somewhat lacking, as each vocalist has a unique path to the style and it is highly unlikely to be the result of formal training. In Australia this situation is exacerbated by the relative isolation of the individuals learning due to its small population, large geographic size and relative lack of popularity of heavy metal. This research involved interviewing five active harsh vocalists about their journey to learning and revealed that individuals were unlikely to engage in formal training and were more likely to experiment, seek access to information online and engage with strategies from other vocal styles in order to develop their own sound.

Chronic special education teacher (SET) shortages are a national concern and particularly problematic in rural school districts. That is, rural districts face challenges when it comes to hiring and retaining qualified SETs. To understand the contributing factors related to retention and attrition, it is essential to gain insight from rural SETs first-hand. The purpose of this study was to listen to and learn from current and former rural SETs and gain insight on their needs and how they believe retention can be improved in geographically isolated areas. Including the voices of current rural SETs and those who chose to leave their position shed light on the benefits of being employed in rural areas while bringing attention to current issues that need to be addressed to improve SET retention. Using a qualitative descriptive research design, we analyzed open-ended survey responses from 185 U.S. participants. In all, a total of six themes and 11 subthemes emerged. Findings highlight the needs of rural SETs, and corresponding recommendations for administrators and school leaders in rural communities are offered.

In this cross-sectional study, we investigated the multi-level educational intervention among youth in a low-income, remote community in Hawai'i, United States. The program aided with middle schoolers' transition into adulthood through youth-adult partnerships, teen mentoring, and community sustainability. Drawing upon social capital framework, we explored participants' experiences and how the intervention promoted positive developmental outcomes among the youth. We recruited youth from a rural Title I Middle School in Hawai'i. Nine youth (n[subscript boys]=6, n[subscript girls]=3; M[subscript age]=13; 44.9% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 44.4% Black or African American, 33.3% White, 22.2. % Asian; participants could select multiple races), teen mentors (n[subscript girls]=3; M[subscript age]=18), and an adult partner (male; 24 years old) participated in 26 virtual club meetings in Spring 2021. This qualitative study consisted of 27 participants who took part in focus groups and observations. Three themes emerged: skill development, youth-adult relationship building, and sense of belonging. These social components encouraged the sharing of knowledge and feelings among participants on horizontal and oblique directions through reciprocity and helped create a social norm of a supportive environment to make youth feel belonging to the group and the local community. Multi-level interventions that draw upon community resources and youth-adult partnerships can benefit at-risk, minority adolescent populations. We identified non-familial role models and a sense of belonging to one's community as two key protective factors that may lead to positive cognitive changes when youth transition into adulthood.

Compared to all other options, homeschooling provides parents with the most control over their children's educational experiences. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge in the U.S. homeschool population. Black families had the largest increase in home educators from 3.3% to 16.1% between April 2020 and October 2020. The emerging literature on Black home education has focused almost entirely on urban areas. This paper presents findings from a pilot study designed to begin to address the omission of rural setting representation in Black home education research literature. This qualitative study employed conceptual frameworks that value Black women's ways of knowing (e.g., Black Feminist Theory, Endarkened Feminist Epistemologies, and Critical Race Theory) to emphasize the role of participating mothers who represented a single-parent household or a household where the mother maintained primary responsibility for the home education of children.

The researcher assessed the subject teachers' levels of satisfaction and/or dissatisfaction using the Herzberg Two-Factor Theory. The study assesses employee motivation and hygiene, as discussed in the first part of the study about exploring the sociodemographic profile and job satisfaction level among teachers in Alaska. Frederick Herzberg (1923-2000) was a well-known author, and his work was praised by the Harvard Business Review. His theory has been widely accepted by many different groups and studies, with many people adapting and applying the theory to business management. For many years, teachers have been leaving school districts, particularly in Alaska, and this project seeks to investigate the causes of this phenomenon. Running a school is like running a business, except your clients or customers are students and parents. You must be able to choose what type of education they require. Schools have a system structure that is like a business. A school district that oversees several schools is analogous to a conglomerate that oversees a group of businesses. The study was conducted in the Bering Strait School District, in northwest Alaska, which serves fifteen isolated villages and two islands. Various methods including survey questionnaires, interviews and data gathering, were used and implemented. Out of 30 targeted respondents, 13 had high hygiene and high motivator factor (HHHM) scores and were further analyzed through interviews, with the data gathered subjected to thematic analysis. It was noted that some of the factors that affected the respondents in leaving their school are professional-related reasons, professional growth, job stability, physiological growth, no consistent reliable childcare options or childcare, very cold weather, and emotional reasons. Lack of these factors can influence the participants to seek such services elsewhere--from another workplace that can provide them with these services, and thus give them comfort, and peace of mind as well.

This paper examines online collaboration between small rural primary schools in New Zealand, focusing on principals' perspectives. Through semi-structured interviews with eight principals involved in the Virtual Learning Network (VLN) Primary, the study explores the benefits, challenges, and key factors for successful collaboration. The findings indicate that online collaboration can provide professional support, workload relief, and expanded learning opportunities for students. However, challenges include varying expectations across schools and tensions between centralized online learning and local curricula. The study highlights the importance of shared understanding, time commitment, equity in contributions, and strong leadership for effective collaboration. It also discusses the principals' mixed experiences with the Communities of Learning, Kahui Ako initiatives. The research contributes to understanding how rural schools can leverage technology and professional networks to enhance educational opportunities, offering insights for school leaders and policymakers on fostering successful collaborative networks in rural education settings.

Australian Indigenous student participation rates in higher education are consistently lower than non-Indigenous students, especially in remote contexts. This has manifested in the usurpation of remote Aboriginal community control by 'more qualified' external staff. Here we present a reflexive assessment of the development, delivery, outcomes and challenges of the Wuyagiba Bush Uni that was designed to address the paucity of university education in remote Aboriginal communities of Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. From 2018 to 2022, 66 Indigenous students graduated with Wuyagiba Micro-credentials (accredited by Macquarie University), and 28 students proceeded to enrol in Bachelor level degrees at Macquarie University in Sydney, with the first graduate in 2023. Furthermore, the Wuyagiba model has created a successful remote Indigenous business that employs about 50 local Indigenous people annually and is working towards empowering endogenous community development in remote Arnhem Land. Nevertheless, many challenges remain including sustainable funding, remote service delivery, university and bureaucratic structural barriers, and lateral violence in remote communities. Several enabling factors of success are identified, such as the cross-cultural curriculum, strong Indigenous control and leadership, wrap-around support, and longstanding relationships between University staff and community leaders. Such reflections can be used by other remote Aboriginal communities who wish to replicate this model or create their own on-Country higher education programs to empower locally trained leaders of the future.

Global education is often framed in terms of standardised testing that makes comparisons across nations. This is particularly evident with international measures like the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which tests 15-year-olds in member countries. Images on the PISA website provide representations of education that seem to clash with some of the contexts where we have conducted research. This prompted an investigation into educators' talk about local contextual realities, and how--or whether--they were impacted by global calls for quality education. The study focused on three different educational programs: education for adolescent girls in a refugee camp in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, school education in a western Queensland rural/remote town in Australia, and the Migrant Education Program in rural Illinois in the United States. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and field observations. Following data analysis, three case study narratives were constructed. A final step of analysis identified four shared pillars that made learning in rural and remote areas impactful and effective: context relevance, educators' openness to learning, flexibility of teaching/learning approaches, and responsiveness to learners' needs. The data demonstrated that the educators had a broader picture--national or global--in mind, but their main aim was to provide learning opportunities that were responsive, flexible and contextually appropriate to their location.

This paper draws together data from two projects on schooling dis/engagement in Australia. One project focused on mainstream schools and the strategies employed to retain and engage young people in learning, whereas the other explored the growing sector of alternative/flexible education for similar solutions. We found interesting parallels. For example, rich, relevant curricula delivered through innovative pedagogies alongside positive staff/student relationships were key elements in schooling engagement across both sectors. Those findings have been published elsewhere. This paper focuses on the contributions to schooling engagement that may be derived from mutually beneficial school/community relationships. Here, we examine one mainstream high school and one flexi secondary school, both situated in remote geolocations, that established bespoke school/community partnerships in response to local needs. The data from each site provide blueprints for other schools that wish to tap into the wealth of human and material support systems in their own local areas.

This article provides an original and timely contribution to current cutting-edge methodological debates by discussing the ongoing need to ensure communities in zones which are inaccessible through war, conflict or disease still have a voice and are not side-lined. As seen during COVID-19, traditional methods of gaining opinions from these communities, such as face-to-face interviews and focus groups, may be restricted and even impossible. Instead, remote methods using WhatsApp provide many additional benefits, providing qualitative and quantitative data (not always simultaneously provided by surveys or interviews), and allowing voice and text messages to be used. This article draws out the generic implications for the methodology using the substantive findings of a study conducted in the Sahel in 2019-20. Whilst also providing 'how to' discussions on this novel approach, the article critically reflects on the advantages and disadvantages of using WhatsApp as it relates to conducting social research in general.

People have been raising the alarm about a language education crisis in the UK, particularly in England, for twenty years. Yet the crisis continues: the number of young people studying languages at school is low, especially in socioeconomically less-privileged areas. University programmes -- particularly in universities with below average entry tariffs -- are closing, but we do not understand the regional impact of this decline. This paper fills that gap by identifying 'cold spots': areas of the country where no universities offer language degrees. The programming language R was used to analyse the location of universities at various entry tariffs, and areas of the country further than a commutable distance of 60 km were identified. Large cold spots were found in the North, East and South West of England for universities offering languages at below average entry tariff, with the cold spot in the South West also present at higher entry tariffs. This is a social justice issue, since most students attend university close to home, with students from less-privileged socioeconomic backgrounds and some ethnic minority backgrounds more likely to commute. This leads to a key strategic recommendation: to open language degree programmes at one lower tariff university in each cold spot.

In this paper, we (a) share perspectives from stakeholders who learn and teach in an EdD program located in the United States that utilizes telepresence for distance learning (TDL) in a synchronous, hybrid environment, (b) frame our learning as a community of practice, and (c) report affordances and challenges of this model. TDL students asserted that the telepresence option gave them choice in selecting their doctoral program and increased their social presence and ability to be perceived as real people, and all students recognized the importance of a cohesive community to offer support through technological challenges. Faculty were largely unfamiliar with utilizing telepresence in the classroom initially and acknowledged that revised pedagogies and instructional methods were essential to supporting all students in this model. TDL affords opportunities to increase equity and access in doctoral education; however, technological and logistical challenges must be remediated to ensure a successful learning environment.

'Mooditj' known as 'good' or 'solid knowledge' in Noongar language based in Western Australian, is an impact evaluated sexuality education program developed in 2002 by Sexual Health Quarters after an extensive consultation process with WA First Nations populations. The program uses interactive activities designed to educate 11-14-year-old First Nations youth about sexual health, life and relationship skills. In conjunction with local and Indigenous leaders within hilltribe communities, Borderless Friendship Foundation (BFF) and Borderless Friendship WA (BFWA) adapted the Mooditj training program to a hilltribe youth audience. Hilltribe people are the Indigenous culture of Thailand, typically living in remote villages that often have little to no electricity, access to safe water, health services or education. Hilltribe youth are at risk of entering the sex trade due to multiple vulnerabilities as a population and education is recommended to reduce risky sexual behaviours. This paper explores the acceptability of Mooditj program content and delivery to suit the cultural contexts and need of hilltribe communities.

Many students in the United States and around the world live in arts deserts, areas where they have limited opportunities to engage with various forms of artistic expression, cultural events, and creative experiences due to a scarcity of cultural institutions, performance venues, galleries, and community arts programs. This article explores the value of providing students living in an arts desert with access to arts-based experiences and the potential benefit for combating the isolation of rural poverty. Four groups of middle school students and one high school group from Appalachia who lived in an arts desert were able to experience musical theater performances, traveling after the school day to avoid conflict with their academic responsibilities. Through the musical theater performances, students were exposed to different perspectives and experiences they otherwise would not have received in their local communities.

Historically, students attending school in rural and regional New South Wales have experienced poorer outcomes than their peers attending metropolitan schools. The lack of coordinated support services for students with complex support needs compounds this issue. Wraparound models of support have been successful in improving outcomes for students with complex support needs, and the New South Wales government has prioritised the establishment of strong relationships between schools and communities to overcome the limitations of geographic isolation. The aim of the current study was to explore wraparound support for students with complex support needs attending schools in rural and regional New South Wales. A qualitative research approach was employed, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders to gain an in-depth understanding of current successes, barriers, and needs. The findings indicated that wraparound was most effective in rural and remote schools when school staff implemented bespoke approaches to wraparound, such as restorative practices. Resourcing was a barrier found to be central to all schools. Recommendations are provided to enhance the capacity of rural and regional NSW schools to provide wraparound support for students with complex support needs.

The thematic curriculum is defined as a learning method that integrates attitudes, skills, knowledge, learning value, and creative thinking using themes in the learning process. By implementing this curriculum, it is expected that it would bridge the school and daily-life learning experiences. The present study investigated some challenges in thematic curriculum implementation at five elementary schools in a remote area. This qualitative research utilized semi-structured interviews and classroom observation involving 20 teachers. A thematic analysis approach was used for this study. The study found that the teachers' lack of understanding of thematic curriculum and the lack of parental involvement are the main challenge of this curriculum implementation. This study suggests that providing teachers' learning environment and creating PTA meetings might maximize the potential of thematic curriculum implementation in elementary schools in remote areas.

Background: Health behaviors, like diet, are influenced by a person's culture and the society where they reside, contributing to the presence of health disparities within a unique region. Such disparities are evident in Central Appalachia where a unique cultural identity exists. Culture-based initiatives focused on improving food security and other nutritional challenges have had success in other diverse groups, yet similar interventions considering geographically tied culture, like Appalachia, are limited. Aim: This study aims to identify specific aspects of Appalachian culture that address food insecurity to inform future initiatives that may improve adult dietary habits and food security status. Methods: Qualitative data were collected from five focus groups in one rural Central Appalachian community in 2021 (n=59). Data were analyzed using Grounded Theory Approach. Results: Four primary themes related to culture and food insecurity emerged: (1) Community decline and economic hardship; (2) Shifts in multigenerational food traditions; (3) Response to limited food access; and (4) Community decline and economic hardship. Participants revealed adaptations they have made in the face of geographic isolation and poverty and the pride they take in providing for themselves and one another. Conclusion: These findings indicate the people of Appalachia are unknowingly leveraging cultural practices to address food insecurity, yet the impact of these practices on nutritional status remains unknown. These results have implications for future studies and interventions in Appalachia which may have greater success by accounting for cultural influences compared to traditional approaches for reducing food insecurity in the region.

Quality Early Childhood Care and Education programs are beneficial to children in numerous ways. Consequently, from time immemorial, various stakeholders not only in Botswana, but the world over, has embarked on various efforts to try to provide such services. However, several challenges in the provision of Early Childhood Care and Education services prevail in various countries. This paper explores such issues in the context of Botswana. It also maps the way forward in relation to addressing the challenges. Desktop research using existing sources such as newspapers, University archives, and published citations was used to gather relevant information for this paper.

This study was conducted to investigate student barriers to the prospect of online learning in Vietnam, in the context of Covid-19 pandemic. This mixed-method study attracted the participation of 1165 students from twelve universities and nine high schools across thirteen provinces in the Mekong Delta. The findings revealed the additional three obstacles from the qualitative data analysis including (1) geographical features, (2) the economic status of Vietnamese people, and (3) Vietnamese culture and traditions in addition to the six groups of barriers being re-confirmed from Berge's framework (2005). The results of Binary Logistic Regression testified the negative impacts of obstacles in Learner Motivation, Cost and Access to the Internet, and Social Interaction on the prospects of online learning, though it is predicted to go farther in education in Vietnam in the future.

Much research on access to the higher education system overlooks the importance of a base factor: place. An 'education desert' is defined as an area in which residents are separated from the higher education system by geography and structural factors. This study employs a granular approach to locate education deserts within the state of North Carolina, and analyze the condition of higher education access across the state. By delineating the state into Census tracts (n=2184), the analysis draws more specific boundaries around deserts than did previous researchers. The analysis then goes beyond the binary classification of desert or non-desert, and ranks each census tract's access to the higher education system on a five-point scale. The data shows that approximately one-quarter of the state's population lives in an education desert. Various socioeconomic indicators, such as median household income and the rate of disconnected youth, are found to be significantly correlated with a census tract's access to the higher education system. Distance learning seems to be an apt solution; however, residents of higher education deserts have low rates of internet access, making online education impractical. Policy makers should recognize that gaps in access to higher education, and the subsequent benefits from a degree, have roots in geography and in infrastructure.

The higher education participation and success rates of students in low socio-economic status (SES), regional, rural, remote, and isolated areas -- who often attend university later in life -- is a persistent concern in Australia and beyond. This article focuses on mature-aged students in low SES, regional and remote areas in Tasmania, Australia, proposing that universities harness local belonging when providing learning opportunities. It draws on a thematic analysis of 19 semi-structured interviews with current and prospective university students, and community stakeholders. The study identifies time and place-based barriers to studying on campus: students' commitments outside of university; and geographical, cultural, and financial challenges. However, existing local infrastructure, such as libraries, create opportunities for face-to-face interactions and learning support for students who study online in their regional or remote communities, provided by staff and local volunteers. These barriers and solutions are discussed using the concept of 'belonging', framed spatially and culturally. Current literature on regional and remote higher education students tends to emphasise 'not belonging' in relation to distant urban or metropolitan spaces. We argue that 'belonging' can be fostered in local spaces with local people. Utilising 'untapped' local learning support and existing physical spaces mitigates geographical, cultural, and financial challenges, and provides academic and emotional support. We propose a coordinated network of physical study places and local people, including: regional 'satellite' campuses; regional study hubs; local public libraries; and schools, where online students can be supported, connected, and engaged in their studies whilst located in regional and remote communities.

Achieving equal learning opportunities for all students is a major policy goal in all countries. All children have the opportunity to obtain high quality education. Teachers become a key element in improving the quality of primary and secondary education This paper is based on secondary data information collected from various sources, namely policy documents that are relevant to research topics that still apply in Indonesia, national journal articles published starting in 2010-2020, reports from various government organizations, namely the Central Statistics Agency and the Ministry of Education and Culture, reports of international organizations, namely Worldbank and UNESCO, national and local newspapers published from 2015-2020, and websites. These data are triangulated, examined, and sought supporting evidence to improve the accuracy of research. Nationally, equality education in Indonesia as measured by expand access, equal access, and quality learning shows encouraging results, only a slight imbalance occurs between urban and rural schools.

Rural places are defined by their connectedness--close-knit, supportive communities that work together to meet the needs of children and families. But geographic isolation is another defining feature of rural places, one that often renders rural families invisible to nonrural Americans. Indeed, national conversations about the COVID-19 pandemic often overlook the nearly 7.5 million rural children in the United States. From food and housing insecurity and critical shortages in child care options to underreporting of child maltreatment and continued inadequate access to healthcare, the well-being of rural children and their families is particularly at risk as the pandemic continues. Balancing the need to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and the need to keep rural children and families connected to essential services is at the heart of the challenges local and state officials face. Compounding this dilemma is the troubling message that the virus is not spreading in rural areas. In mid-November, 80 percent of U.S. rural counties were in the red zone, indicating a high level of infection and community spread. To address these challenges, developing and implementing innovative models that increase services to rural children and families should be a priority for state boards of education.

Numerous studies have explored the labor market of school principals, documenting high turnover rates and voicing concerns regarding labor supply. However, little is known about the staffing challenges in rural schools and what promotes applicants to apply for and be hired for principalship in these locales. In partnership with the Wisconsin Education Career Access Network, we examine the principal labor dynamics in rural schools using statewide job-openings and application information. Results indicate that all rural communities--rural fringe, rural distant, and rural remote--receive comparable numbers of applications, as compared with urban districts. Female candidates and candidates of color are significantly less likely to apply to rural districts, while experience working in the same district is a considerable advantage to being hired. Additionally, higher student poverty is associated with fewer principal applicants in rural schools. These results indicate the need for policies better attuned to subtle differences in rural contexts.

This study examines the condition on whether or not there is an advantage on integrating manipulatives in the instruction against traditional teaching involving concept building and students' performance in geometry. To well achieve this objective, 48 Grade-9 students from a remote public school and island in the Philippines were invited and were then divided into control and experiment groups. After such inferences, empirical results showed that there was no significant mean difference on the scores between the two groups, which implies that one method does not outperform the other. Indeed, post-evaluation revealed that there are other variables which trigger the variation of scores from these groups, respectively, as shared by the subjects themselves. Thus, it is proposed that future relevant researches, shall peek into those variables that can nonetheless support the efficacy of intended curriculum contents and correspondingly address the diverse learning styles.

Open Educational Resources (OER) are geared towards promoting accessibility to education and to help overcome certain constraints to education associated with traditional ways of learning. However, these OERs can only be successfully rolled out and utilised in environments already enjoying certain infrastructural empowerments, including teacher-preparedness, availability of equipment to allow use of OERs and learner exposure and knowhow. This poses a major hurdle in many public and private schools in Kenya, which are in far-flung areas without electricity, mobile-phone connectivity, Internet services and serviceable roads that allow movement to a cyber cafe where Internet services may be accessed at a fee. These difficulties are encountered by both teachers and their learners. This paper seeks to discuss the challenges faced in implementation of OERs, especially by the teachers who are expected to sensitise learners to the availability and utilisation of OERs, while they themselves are either unaware of them, poorly trained to handle them or are under-facilitated to carry out their mandate. The study was carried out in Tharaka-Nithi County, Kenya. The county was chosen because challenges related to OER have been reported there. The county has 104 secondary schools. A sample size of 45 schools representing 20% of the respondents was considered sufficient for the study. A questionnaire was used to obtain data on the teachers' ICT competencies, their awareness of and attitudes towards OER and the challenges they faced in the implementation of OER. The study found that utilisation of OER stands at about 3% as a result of ignorance regarding OER or a negative attitude towards them, poor ICT skills amongst the teachers and poor or inadequate resources within and around the schools.

An evaluation study of the Lifelong Learning for Farmers (L3F) program was undertaken in two sites; in the central and northern regions of Uganda. Propensity Score Matching (PSM) was used to measure the impact of the program on crop and household income, as well as the empowerment levels of its participants. The two sites had differences not only in geographical location but in historical background and implementation of the program, which may have influenced the livelihood outcomes. Despite these differences, the results of the study confirm the potential of the L3F approach to raise participants' crop and household income relative to non-L3F counterparts, significantly so for women participants. There is also sufficient evidence to confirm that L3F positively contributes to farmer empowerment, and, subsequently, their livelihood. The paper draws lessons for scaling the empowerment process using the lifelong learning for farmers' model in Uganda.

This paper reports an analysis of university lecturers and students' experience of the online mode of learning in the COVID-19 situation. It as qualitative research employed semi-structured interviews and observation of online classes to gather data. It reports on how online classes enabled university lecturers and students to manage online learning and improve technological skills with the consistent practice of various information and communication technology (ICT) tools. Despite limited technological and pedagogical knowledge, lecturers initiated online learning as an alternative to physical classroom learning in the crisis. Both lecturers and students, thus, were intimidated by new technologies and ways of learning at the beginning. In absence of ICT training, their consistent practices of online learning enabled them to develop some level of confidence in using ICT in teaching and learning activities. Many students from remote rural villages, however, are unable to access online education due to the lack of the internet, smart devices and electricity. The online mode of learning, albeit it is reported a potential strategy to shift from the traditional education system to modern learning, cannot be sustainable in the context where there is limited or no infrastructure for the internet and electricity.

The purpose of this study was to determine the AQ correlation between teacher professionalism and student autonomous learning at "Madrasah Aliyah," South Banawa District, Donggala Regency, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. The research design used a quantitative approach. The number of research samples was of 36 students and 19 teachers with a simple random sampling technique. The main data collection was performed by means of a questionnaire. Product moment correlation was employed in data analysis, by checking the normality and timeliness of the data. The first finding revealed no relationships (r= 0.073) between AQ and teacher professionalism. While the second finding showed a relationship (r= 0.961) between the AQ between teacher professionalism and student autonomous learning. This finding can likely provide evidence as references for educational institutions, particularly for those at the "Madrasah Aliyah" level, educators, and the government to increase the AQ between teacher professionalism and student autonomous learning so that it can enhance student achievement and enable supports for national developments in the future. It is essential to provide positive supports given the low professionalism of teachers in remote areas, albeit the potential for student's autonomous learning also deserves deliberation as a form of social justice for all Indonesian people.

How do natural disasters affect academic performance? Despite numerous studies having been conducted after the 2015 Nepal earthquake, the academic impacts of this tragic event have rarely been explored. Applying the OLS estimation on the microdata collected through a questionnaire survey among 189 secondary school students of two secondary schools in one of the hardest-hit rural villages, we found that students' average annual test scores dropped by 7% after the earthquake. Human losses measured by the incidence of death or injury and economic losses proxied by the level of house damage in a respondent's family were found to be significant in the decline in the annual test scores of the respondents. Because secondary schools are usually not very close for most of the students in rural mountainous communities, we controlled for time taken to reach school, which was also found to significantly increase the magnitude of the drop in the test score. However, students' level of happiness measured using the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) and the mother's level of education were found to be significant in reducing the magnitude of the drop in the test score of students. The findings suggest more support is needed for students who faced higher levels of human and economic loss in their family.

Informed by Bronfenbrenner's ecological model of development, this mixed-methods study's aims are to: (1) describe rural Latino/a adolescents' (N = 62) narratives and lived social experiences in the context of rurality, and (2) examine their personal networks to better understand their social interactions (subset of 30 adolescents). Rural Latino/a adolescents move in limited social circles and experience geographic, cultural, and social isolation due to immigration status problems, socioeconomic issues, racial discrimination, and family dynamics. This limitation is reflected by personal networks that tend to be homogenous in terms of ethnicity, age, and sociodemographic characteristics. School, although characterized by weak social ties often disconnected from community and family contacts, emerged as the dominant context of sociability where adolescents build their social identity outside the circle of dense family ties. Findings suggest a critical need for interventions to reduce isolation and enhance social connectedness between family, school, and rural community in this population.

The case study in this article offers a descriptive account of challenges involved in teaching Australian Curriculum content in the common teaching context in remote communities where an Indigenous language is spoken as the everyday form of communication and students learn English in what is essentially a foreign language setting. An on-the-ground description of the work of a Primary school teaching team serves to illustrate the language teaching aspect of delivering Australian Curriculum content in areas such as History, Geography and Science. This aspect of the teaching team's work is underestimated in the curriculum itself and in the guidance provided to teachers, yet is essential for student learning in this context. While the team draws on students' L1 and early L2 English proficiency abilities to teach curriculum content, this work is not expedited from outside their classroom. An analysis of current curriculum offerings and the teaching team's approaches finds that they receive little direction for the extensive language planning required. The findings suggest an urgent need for tailor-made curriculum and teacher guidance which better recognise this dual language context. This article canvases different curriculum settings that would alleviate this situation considerably, not only for this teaching team but for others in similar remote schools.

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine delivers medical education aiming to improve the health outcomes for persons living in Northern Ontario, including those in underserviced rural and geographically remote communities. Second year students experience rural medicine and living during two four-week long placements set in remote and rural communities (RRCP) supervised by local physicians. This place-based approach to medical education aims to equip learners with the skills and dispositions needed to work there successfully. The goal of the study was to develop a better understanding of RRCPs from different perspectives: Institutional, community-preceptors and students. Data was collected by review of institutional documents, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaires to obtain information about the aims of each group. A place-based educational framework informed the analysis which developed themes and sub-themes using a constructivist approach. The aims of each group were in five themes, social accountability, community engagement, integrated learning, forming the rural clinician, and living in place as a rural clinician. Differences were, however, apparent in terms of emphasis and perceived relevance, with these being related to the perceptual, political, ideological and social dimensions. For example, the finding that students did not value extra-clinical learning about or within the wider community can be viewed as students having a different place-relationship with the community than their teachers in terms of the social dimension. The data suggests that curricula should include consideration of the various ways students and teachers interact with placement communities with the aim of gaining understanding of, and bridging the gap between, their different expectations.

With significant challenges in rural schools such as limited mental health resources, poverty, high visibility, and physical isolation, rural school counselors face a set of unique experiences and challenges. We present an ecological framework to conceptualize the roles, responsibilities, and challenges of rural school counselors and provide intervention strategies to address these challenges that are contextually aware and could be tailored to the communities they serve.

This paper reports findings from a study where regional, rural, and remote (RRR) educators were involved in a Queensland Government-funded 3-year Central Queensland (CQ) STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) Cluster Project designed to enhance student learning opportunities. This project provided STEM professional development, with a focus on robotics, helping teachers prepare students for a new regional robotics competition via informal school clubs. It was designed to empower RRR teachers to implement engaging, real-world STEM practices in their schools and focused on how aspects of the Australian Digital Technologies Curriculum (DTC) learning area connected with student robotics learning. Data were collected using survey responses from teachers participating in the professional development (PD). Attending PD significantly improved teacher confidence in supporting student robotics clubs. The project provides some evidence that access to physical resources (robotics kits), effective PD design (hands-on and differentiated learning), and partnerships (industry involvement) are all important for creating sustainable STEM education ecosystems within regional areas.

It is well established in Australian research and policy literature that children attending schools in regional, rural, and remote locations will benefit from access not only to experiences and interactions offered in their own communities but also to the sorts of experiences available to those in more populated areas of Australia as well. Virtual interactions afforded by technology are an obvious solution to achieving this access by enabling Australian classrooms to be increasingly connected. However, with the plethora on offer and little oversight of their quality, literacy educators are left to sift and sort through volumes of virtual interactions and to make decisions regarding their capacity to promote the development of oral language through play. Using a design-based research approach, this study aimed to identify in research literature key principles for the design of virtual interactions for children that can support the development of oral language through play and test them against those currently on offer. The study confirmed the value of virtual interactions as rich sources for learning that offered shared experiences built on language interactions between creators and users and giving access to new information where learning is scaffolded and understandings can be transferred from virtual to real contexts. The study also identified personal advantages that access to new physical geographies within virtual interactions can offer to those in regional, rural, and remote communities.

The rise of Open Distance Learning (ODL) has created new learning opportunities for teacher education students, particularly in geographically remote small island states. Alongside increasing access to education, ODL is designed to promote independent and self-directed learning. Despite this highly individualised pedagogical orientation, little is known about how ODL is experienced in collectivist cultures, such as Samoa, where cultural practices centre around a deep and interconnected relationality. This article responds to these concerns by employing the "fa'afaletui" research methodology to investigate the pedagogical experiences of 16 teacher education students in Samoa who were completing a two-year teacher upgrade programme delivered through ODL. The findings reveal those students highly valued relationality at all stages of their ODL programme. Students exercised agency to maintain relational connections by organising informal face-to-face meetings or telephone conversations with fellow students and lecturers to enhance their learning. These findings suggest that relational connections and dialogic interactions were crucial for their learning, despite ODL providing few of these relational and dialogic opportunities. In a time where the global pandemic has accelerated the need for ODL, the findings of this study offer important considerations for the international teacher education community.

The authors of this paper share a common background from the Northern Norway region, a rural county and the largest and least populated county of Norway. The region is characterised by high out-migration, lower educational levels, and higher drop-out rates from secondary education than in other regions of Norway. Limited educational provision makes it necessary for many young people in rural areas to leave home to take a secondary education. Large geographical distances make it difficult to commute on a daily basis. Historically, this area has been the most culturally diverse in Norway, as the domicile of the Sámi Indigenous people and the national minority, the Kven, and the Norwegian ethnic group. This Arctic region is characterised by the encounter with three ethnicities, and traditional industries such as fishing, farming and herding, combined with modern industry and knowledge-intensive enterprises. Despite this multi-ethnic and geographically diverse society, the schools are still struggling with the unit-oriented curriculum, ignoring the diversity among the pupils. When the multi-ethnic society is not embedded in the education system, nor given in the adolescents' hometown, the education system will be exogenous and will appear foreign. In this paper, we use available public statistics and a literature review, inspired by autoethnographic methodology--whereby authors use their experiences as a person and a long-time researcher in a field to describe, analyse and understand the phenomenon--to argue for a local- and contextual oriented schools to make meaningful and practical improvements to rural education.

This study was conducted to explore the experiences of novice elementary teachers assigned in far-flung schools in the time of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, anchoring on reflective practice using Kolb's (2015) experiential learning theory. As a strategy to understand the experiences of novice teachers, the researcher employed mini-virtual ethnography by interviewing four novice elementary teachers teaching in schools located in mountainous areas. The data gathered were analysed using thematic analysis. Recorded interviews were transcribed, coded and sorted to identify the different themes. The study revealed that teachers experienced challenging and fulfilling encounters on their journey. To cope with the challenges brought by the pandemic, the teachers found means to ensure that education continued amidst the crisis, with the help of various stakeholders. Out of their experiences, teachers gained a lot of realisations and aspirations for their students, parents and self. They have seen that what they went through will help them become stronger, and there is still hope despite what is happening. By engaging in reflective practice, teachers were able to think and reflect on their experiences, learn from the experience, plan for a change and improve their learning and instructional practices.

Professional development opportunities provide teachers with enhanced learning experiences, deeper subject knowledge, and improvement of their teaching practices, all for the goal of increasing student achievement (Nelson, 2009). Unfortunately, most rural teachers have much less access to professional development opportunities compared to their urban and suburban peers (Hardré, P.L., et al., 2014). A Research Experience for Teachers (RET), which is a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded program, was created for rural high school math and science teachers in collaboration with the University of Oklahoma and the Center for Bioanalysis. As participants, teachers applied and were accepted to participate in a seven-week summer research experience to connect bioanalytical engineering and their research experiences into their classrooms and to stimulate their students' critical thinking skills. The following narrative and analysis chronicle the teams' design, development and learning experience in redesigning the seven-week professional development for rural science and math teachers.