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ESR401 Teaching in Rural Secondary Schools (8)

Abstract

Professional roles facing the teacher in rural secondary schools are explored in this subject. The relationship between place based education, secondary schools, their community and the changing curriculum are examined. Recruitment and retention of teachers for secondary rural schools is considered. Issues around post compulsory education, VET in small secondary schools, curriculum diversity and delivery, multi-age teaching, integration of technology into secondary curriculum delivery, secondary retention rates, and school and teacher responses to declining enrolments will be examined. This subject explores Aboriginal cultural practices and diversity of societies in a rural setting that complements the promotion of Aboriginal participation and achievement in secondary education. Curriculum organisational issues in rural secondary schools are explored.

+ Subject Availability Modes and Location

Session 1
DistanceWagga Wagga Campus
Continuing students should consult the SAL for current offering details: ESR401
Where differences exist between the Handbook and the SAL, the SAL should be taken as containing the correct subject offering details.

Subject information

Duration Grading System School:
One sessionHD/FLSchool of Education

Enrolment restrictions

Entry into Bachelor of Teaching (Secondary), Bachelor of Education (Technology and Applied Studies), Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Teaching (Secondary), Bachelor of Teaching (Secondary)/Bachelor of Information Technology, Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Teaching (Secondary), Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary) or as determined by the course coordinator.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:
- critically analyse selection, recruitment, retention and transfer strategies for teachers in rural areas;
- evaluate the benefits of multi-age teaching from a student, curriculum and teacher perspective;
- identify pedagogy issues associated with the use of technology in secondary curriculum delivery for rural schools;
- analyse the impacts of curriculum provision on secondary retention rates, academic achievement, and student participation rates, and community support;
- develop strategies that promote Aboriginal participation and academic achievement in secondary education to expand undertsandings of Aboriginal societies and cultures in a rural setting developed in other subjects in the course;
- understand how small rural secondary schools are organised and staffed;
- relate community needs and place based determinants to designing appropriate educational programs.

Syllabus

The subject will cover the following topics:
- place as a determinant in rural education provision; - issues associated with the recruitment, preparation and retention of rural teachers; - teacher transfer and promotion arrangements and their effects on rural schools and teachers; - multi-age teaching in rural schools, and the analysis of pedagogical issues and teaching strategies; - program delivery, responses to declining enrolments in small rural schools, curriculum inflation and teacher's working conditions; - integration of technology into rural school curriculum delivery, especially professional support and professional development implications; - analysis of geographical, social, informational and psychological factors that affect rural communities and their teachers/schools; - small school management issues: the "loneliness" of the rural school specialist teacher, managing change in rural environment; - startegies to promote Aboriginal students participation, community involvement and academic achievement in rural secondary education; - developing teaching and learning programs that meet the needs of diverse learners in small rural secondary schools.

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The information contained in the 2015 CSU Handbook was accurate at the date of publication: 01 October 2015. The University reserves the right to vary the information at any time without notice.