Rural Education Forum Australia

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Rural Education Forum Australia Pre- Service
Country Teaching Placements Research Costs for
Individuals Benefits Disadvantages Policy
and Operational Implications R John Halsey
November 2006

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• Acknowledgements
• the Australian Government through the Department
  of
• Education, Science and Training for funding
  the
• research
• the Australian Council of Deans of Education for
  supporting
• the research and facilitating access to
  respondents
• the staff in the teacher education programs who
  assisted with
• identifying and then contacting the sample for
  the survey
• the respondents who gave their time to share
  their insights
• Dr I Gusti Ngurah Darmawan of the University of
  Adelaide for his
• assistance with the on-line survey and for his
  statistical work
• Members of REFA (and networks) for advice on the
  survey

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• RURAL EDUCATION FORUM AUSTRALIA
• POSITION STATEMENT
• Ensuring that everyone can access appropriate
  high
• quality education and support services is an
• absolute necessity for
• Individual growth and fulfilment
• Wealth generation and fair distribution
• Nation building
• International relations
• Cultural growth enrichment
• Living compatibility with our environment

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RURAL EDUCATION FORUM AUSTRALIA REFAs vision
is Quality education and training outcomes in
rural and remote areas, so that individuals,
families and communities can develop their full
potential in the social, economic, political
and cultural life of the nation.
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RURAL EDUCATION FORUM AUSTRALIA REFA is a
collective of national organisations which
represent the consumers and/or providers of
education services in rural and remote
Australia. REFAs work recognises the importance
and value of people in rural and remote areas
being able to realise their full potential and
the fundamental importance of education in
enabling them to do this. REFAs work is based
upon principles of social justice, equity and
improved access to the range of goods, services
and entitlements that impact on education or on
services related to education and educational
outcomes.
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RURAL EDUCATION FORUM AUSTRALIA In relation to
the preparation of teachers for rural and remote
schools, HREOC found most teacher training does
not adequately equip new recruits with the skills
and knowledge needed for teaching in rural and
remote Australia (HREOC, 2000b, p 43). The
Commission accordingly made the following
recommendation All teacher training
institutions should require undergraduates to
study a module on teaching in rural and remote
communities, offer all students an option to
undertake a fully-funded practical placement
(teaching experience) in a rural or remote school
and assist rural communities in the direct
recruitment of new graduates for their schools.
(HREOC, 2000b, p 44). My emphasis
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Framing In essence, the preparation of teachers
for country schools can be considered as nested
within the broader challenge of the attraction
and retention of professionals to other than
metropolitan locations. Miles, Marshall, Rofe
and Noonan (2004) have highlighted this in their
unpublished report where they cite statistics
from the 2001 Australian census showing 20 of
metropolitan Australias labour force comprising
professionals, compared to around 11 in regional
Australia (p2). In relation to education
specifically, Miles et al highlight that a city
centric preparatory model for professionals is
not serving country areas well.
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Pre-Service Teaching Placements-Whats
Happening? Findings from REFAs mapping in 2004
based upon responses from 23 providers of teacher
education 764,608 placement days per
annum 39,556 placements Mean duration of a
placement 19.3 days Mode 20 days Range 4-60
days 8,967 country placements representing 22.7
of the total 433 remote placements and 7947
rural placements as defined by the respondents

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Key issues Costs Metrocentricity and deficit
framing Individual life complexity, disruption
and disturbance Quality supervision Engaging
community Connections and integration
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• The Pre-Service Costings Survey
• the pre-service costings survey was designed for
  students
• currently enrolled for a teaching qualification
  and who had
• completed a country placement- the rationale
  for the latter was
• that they would have actual experience to draw
  upon for
• answering the questions the rationale for the
  former point was to
• meet university research ethics requirements
• initially it was intended that the number of
  participating
• universities/providers of teacher education be
  limited to 25- the
• ACDE has 48 listed which includes campuses of
  the ACU and
• Griffith, Avondale College, Tabor, Christian
  Heritage College,
• College of Fine Arts University of Newcastle,
  The Australian
• College of Physical Education and RMIT Bundoora
• following a meeting of the Executive of the
  Deans of Education,
• the sample was changed to allow all
  universities/teacher
• education providers to participate in the
  survey with up to 30

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• Survey
• the on-line survey was developed, reviewed and
  modified
• survey site emailed to all sites via the ACDE
  secretariat
• initial response rate was very slow also some
  teething
• problems with accessing the survey and then
  electronically
• submitting it
• one-on- one site follow up occurred as well as
• communication via the ACDE and the Field
  Practice
• Administrators Association Membership to
  encourage and
• and support participation
• it is generally recognised that online survey
  response rates are
• often lower than paper based methods and
  there are benefits
• and downsides of them ( Yun and Trumbro 2000)
• http//jcmc.indiana.edu/vol6/issuel/yun.html
  accessed 3

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• Survey Response Rate?
• it depends
• if all 48 ACDE sites are in the sample, then the
  RR for sites is 40
• if the campuses, the Sydney Conservatorium of
  Music, the
• Australian College of Physical Education and
  the College of Fine
• Arts University of New South Wales are deleted
  from the
• ACDE list, then the RR for sites becomes 48
• if responses received from 5 states are counted
  then the picture is-
• Qld 6 sites 50 responses 28 Vic- 5, 72,
  48 NSW- 3, 34, 38
• WA- 2, 39, 65 SA 2, 22, 37.

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Distribution of Respondents by Level(s) of
Schooling They are Being Prepared to Teach

• 82 of respondents are female and 18 are male

Note the total number is greater than 217
because respondents could choose more than one
option
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Age Profile of Respondents
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Country or City Person?
Duration Frequency mean 25.84 median 25 range
6-126 days
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• Dependents and Employment Profile
• 17 respondents stated they had dependents
• 11 of these gave estimates of the cost of
  providing care
• when away from home
• costs varied from 60 to 1280 mean cost
  366.78
• 141 or 65 of respondents stated that they had a
  paid job
• Mean hours worked is 16.07 and the median hours
  is 15 with
• a range from 2 to 40 hours per week
• Mean hourly rate of pay is 18.11 and the median
  is 17 with
• a range from 10 to 50 per hour

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• Paid Employment Income Loss
• 121 respondents stated that they did not receive
  income from
• their job while on a country placement- income
  lost ranged
• from 90 to 5,100
• mean loss 1,069.59 and the median is 840
• 28 respondents said they were not able to return
  to
• their job after their country placement.
• comments included I lost a few hours but I have
  since made it back to my regular hours my job
  was replaced by another while I was awaymy hours
  halved each time I needed to beg for my hours
  to return my manager now believes that I am
  unreliable, and I am waiting for her to roster me
  again I had to spend a lot of unpaid overtime
  re-organising because casuals were used to fill
  my position and they were not familiar with all
  the minor aspects of the job

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• Other Income Loss
• 20 respondents said they forfeited income from
  other than
• employment when they were on their country
  placement.
• However, some of the responses included income
  from self
• employment like missed income from craft work
  that I sell at
• markets and I lost 400 from the tutoring
  that I do.
• one respondent stated my husband had to take
  holidays to look
• after the children, thus did not get shift
  penalties, just base
• wage.

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• Sources of Support for a Country Placement
• 90 respondents stated they received some
  support for taking a pre-service country
  placement as follows
• 19 University
  20 Parents/Family
• 4 Fundraising- selling chocolates 2
  Partners
• 2 PCAP
  9 Centrelink
  
• 16 State Departments
  2 Youth Allowance
• 2 Austudy
  8 Student Teaching Rural
  
• 
  Experience Program
• 
  (STREP,WA)
• 2 Catholic Education
• 1 School

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• Travel
• the mean distance traveled for a country
  placement
• is 436.16kms with the maximum being stated as
  6,500kms
• Travel Mode

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Travel, Accommodation, Preparation and Meal Costs
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• Has the country pre-service placement had any
  influence on where you want to teach?
• 148 responses show a country placement
• reinforced/confirmed rural is for me-
  examples
• include
• I know I want to teach in a country school
• 2. Yes, I have decided that country service
  would be of great
• benefit to me personally and
  professionally
• 3. My enjoyment of teaching in this area has
  allowed me to put
• my hand up for country service
• 4. Yes, Im confident to teach in small towns
  now. The small
• town chatting and clickiness takes some
  getting used to. But
• there is great friendliness too
• 5. Yes, I cant wait to teach in a rural
  school

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6 responses reinforced/confirmed that rural is
not for me- examples include 1. It has
made me realise that I would not like to live in
a small town 2. yesit confirmed that I
do not want to teach in the country 3. I do
not want to teach in the country- I had a
horrible experience and will avoid it in the
future 4. Yes, I dont want to go anywhere
near the country again 2 responses were of
the I want/would prefer a metropolitan
job viz 1.no( ie the placement had no
influence) I have always wanted a
metropolitan job 2. I would prefer a job in
the Metro area but the experience has helped
me to realise that I would be able to cope in a
rural area
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13 responses were of the kind my placement had
little influence on me because I have always
wanted to teach in rural- examples
include 1.It was my intention all along to
return to my hometown in the country, and
thats exactly what I am going to do three
minutes after handing in my final
assignment 2.It has reiterated my desire to
teach in a rural setting I have always wanted
to teach in rural and remote areas 12 responses
were of the kind my placement made me realise
that rural could be/ would be OK- examples
include 1.it showed me that teaching in the
country would not be so bad 2...I would
consider teaching in the country in the
future 3.I am now open to the idea of working
in a country school
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8 responses said that a country placement had no
influence on teaching location There were
also several responses which did not fit into
any of the above but which are instructive
viz 1.Not as yet (re influenced) because I am
yet to fully experience the metropolitan
area 2.It (the placement) has also inspired me
to teach in the secondary sector 3.I
want to teach in an area where I can clearly see
the difference that school has on students
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• Advantages of a Country Placement
• 17 respondents specifically referred to the
  benefits of
• small schools, diversity and small class
  sizes- examples
• include
• 1. Teaching in a small school means having
  altogether different
• responsibilities that a pre-service teacher
  cannot be prepared
• for if they have not had the experience
• 2. passionate mentors/supervisors, small class
  sizes, close
• relationships with students and other
  teachers
• 3. working in a small school can be a real eye
  opener
• 4. diversity smaller class sizes
• 5. Small schools, better relationship with staff
  and students, able
• to get more hands on approach

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• 28 respondents highlighted the environment of
  country
• schools- examples include
• 1. Broadens horizons, exposes pre-service
  teachers to different
• lifestyles, attitudes, priorities,
  approaches, prepares us for
• likelihood of teaching in country school,
  get to see and
• understand more about Australia, and
  Australians, takes us
• out of comfort zone, develops networks
  (professional
• social), is character building and helps to
  put the course
• future into a different perspective -
  uncovers some
• unknowns
• 2. As a city person, I think this allows
  pre-service teachers like
• myself to see another aspect of Australian
  life and how
• other schools and communities operate

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37 respondents identified community- examples
include 1. The experience is unbeatable. The
people in the country areas are so nice
and kind to you. Plus the resources the
school had were amazing and how the community got
involved in school events and activities
was great 2. Experience teaching in a small
rural school and living in a small community
without the services and opportunities
afforded by city living 3. It provides you
with a different cultural experience 4. The
country is a very inviting place. The country
service requires you to become more
involved in extra curricula activities with
the school and also in the community 5. Seeing
how a small community works, how teachers and
students have connections outside of the
classroomopportunity to work with Koorie
students
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30 respondents referred to student interactions
and the range of teaching experiences- examples
include 1. you are able to focus completely on
the task at hand and you are given more
opportunities as a pre-service teacher 2.
kids are nice, people are friendly, in my case
it has developed links with the
community 3. A teacher needs to be more
flexible, more organised. Good for
preparation for working in the country 4.
Gives you a broader range of teaching
experience. You get to see how teachers and
principals interact between each other 5.
opportunity for rural students to see teachers
from city and their customs and vice versa
for student teachers
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36 respondents indicated that a country placement
allowed them to compare city with country or to
do a country test drive or to improve chances
of getting a job- examples include 1. So many
things are taken for granted in city schools
compared to country schools. Learn
different things in a country school
compared to a city school 2. It provides a
different perspective on teaching compared to a
metropolitan school 3. gives us a view as
to what it is like in the country, so we are not
going in blind if we end up working in the
country 4. Helps with decision of whether you
will be prepared to teach first year out in
the country 5. The chance of obtaining a job
when you finish your degree
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7 respondents focussed on personal benefits and
2 said opportunity to teach Indigenous students
was an advantage- examples include 1. stepping
out of your comfort zone is healthy, getting to
know small community spirit is good 2.
Before doing the country prac I didnt even
think of going to the country to teach when
I completed my degree but I had such a
fabulous time that I would consider it now 3.
excellent experience in many fields, personal
teaching, relationships, opportunities for
work 4. Exposure to Indigenous (students and
communities)
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• Disadvantages of a country placement
• (Note- some responses covered more than one
  disadvantage)
• 80 respondents said cost
• 47 said travel and distance
• 13 said accommodation- I had to sleep on a
  swag for 8 weeks
• 29 cited loneliness and separation from friends
  and family
• 20 specifically listed isolation
• 6 said lack of university supervision
• 19 nominated a lack of resources for teaching
• 9 said that you are not able to work( ie no
  income)

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Any other Advice? 1. pre-service country
placements are valued- its definitely worth
doing, a completely different experience 2.
cost is the major issue- it cost me over 2,000
to go once you consider how much I lost
in earnings and what I spent to get there
scholarships and incentives were cited quite
frequently as being essential 3. family,
parental, partner and friendship supports- all
are vital in making the temporary relocation
viable and worthwhile for an individual 4.
travel and accommodation- these logistical
matters loom large in making a country
placement happen 5. managing the disruption to
routines and the return to study and life
before a country placement is problematic for
many 6. financial assistance is NEEDED- the mean
from respondents is 993 median 900 range
100- 7,000
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Cost Summary