Pre-service teachers’ perceptions about English language teaching in rural schools: A qualitative study in a Chilean context

Teacher training institutions, have to date, paid little or no attention to train teachers to teach in rural schools. This paper examines what needs to be done by teacher training institutions in South Africa to address the issue. Pre-service teachers following the Bachelor of Education programme at a South African university were interviewed to ascertain what needs to be done in order to address the professional needs of pre-service teachers to teach in rural schools? The data indicated that pre-service teacher were not given the opportunity to be exposed to teaching in rural schools during their teaching practice and the curriculum content of the Bachelor of Education degree did not include aspects that relate to aspects of rural teaching, making it difficult for rural schools to retain teachers. Based on the findings the following recommendations are made: modules that have a specific focus on teaching in rural schools be included in the curriculum and that every student is required to spend at least one practice teaching session in the course of the Bachelor of Education programme in a rural school. Education faculties must ensure that they have staff members who have experience in teaching at rural schools to teach the modules that relate to rural teaching. It is also recommended that incentives be offered to teachers who teach in rural schools. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p1795

Aesthetic education is an important part of the overall development of students. This study analyzes the number of rural schools and enrollment, number of classes, and number of full-time teachers in those schools from 2013 to 2022, and clarifies the current challenges in aesthetic education in rural elementary schools and the path of quality improvement. It then constructs a curriculum cluster model that shares resources, teachers, management, instructional design, and practical activities, etc. The results find that (1) the number of rural primary schools in 2013-2022 shows a decreasing trend, and in 2022 there was a 45.77% decrease relative to 2013. The number of rural elementary schools in 2022 shows a decreasing trend, and the relative decrease in 2022 compared with 2013 is 45.77%. From 2013 to 2022, the number of elementary schools in rural areas was more than 50% of the total number of elementary schools. Rural elementary schools in China are scattered, the distribution rate of aesthetic education resources is low, and it is difficult to popularize high-quality aesthetic education resources. (2) The number of classes in China's rural elementary schools decreased 30.28% from 1.139 million in 2013 to 788,000 in 2022. The small size of rural schools, small number of teaching classes, and small number of students lead to less investment in resources for schools to offer aesthetic education, and the integration of collective public art courses cannot be realized. (3) Using the model of a "two-dimensional aesthetic education curriculum cluster," we can improve the high-quality development of aesthetic education in rural schools. (4) The design path of the aesthetic education curriculum clusters focuses on the implementation and implantation of teaching objectives, teaching design and teaching process by grade, and links interest activities, nature and social observation activities, etc. Organically with aesthetic education. This study can thereby an effective path for the improvement of the quality of aesthetic education in rural elementary schools and the high-quality development of aesthetic education in rural schools.

This paper reports how self-generated online projects were integrated into an English language teaching (ELT) class at a Thai university and their impact on pre-service teachers’ experience during the unexpected COVID-19 situation. A qualitative approach was used to describe the integration of self-generated online projects as final group projects and report the learners’ opinions towards their online project-based learning. The participants were 58 pre-service English language teachers who took the Linguistics and Language Teaching course at a Thai university during the first semester of the 2020 academic year. The course initially required the students to organise an English teaching camp at a rural school after they had learned ELT theories and approaches throughout the semester. However, due to the COVID-19 spread, the learners’ original project had to be shifted to creating online English teaching. The online projects were designed to be self-generated, encouraging learners to use their English teaching knowledge and skills to design online lessons for rural school students. The project-based multimedia learning approach (Simkins et al., 2002) was adopted to guide the self-generated projects. The learners’ opinion towards integrating the online projects during the difficult situation was elicited using a reflection form and a small group interview. The findings reveal project integration procedures, the challenges the students faced, their ways of dealing with those challenges, and the advantages and disadvantages of the integration. The students used a variety of working strategies to collaborate their work. They admitted that the COVID-19 lockdown, project time limitations, and limited technology skills delayed their work. However, they believed that the online projects enhanced their teaching and digital skills, increased motivation as well as problem-solving and collaboration skills.

Background/Context Policy makers and scholars have long called for the large-scale recruitment of teachers of color, partly based on evidence highlighting the positive effects of racial/ethnic matching between students and teachers of color on various student experiences and achievements. A more nuanced understanding of racial/ethnic matching effects moderated by contextual factors may help policy makers’ and administrators’ assignment decisions on how to consider student and teacher race/ethnicity. Purpose/Objective/Research Question This study examined the contextualized effects of racial/ethnic matching between high school students and teachers, focusing on the urbanicity of schools in the United States, by asking two main research questions: (1) What are the associations between the racial/ethnic matching of students and teachers, and students’ math achievement and self-efficacy in the United States overall? (2) What are the associations among racial/ethnic matching, math achievement, and math self-efficacy in urban schools, and do these patterns differ for suburban and rural schools? Research Design This study used restricted-use national longitudinal data provided by the NCES High School Longitudinal Study of 2009. A strategy of disaggregating data by schools’ urbanicity and three separate analyses with fixed-effect models for each urbanicity (urban, suburban, and rural) was followed to capture the variations across different schools’ urbanicity and to obtain unbiased estimates of racial/ethnic matching effects. Findings/Results Relatively lower percentages of Black, Hispanic, and Asian students were matched with their same-race/ethnicity math teachers compared with White students in all communities. This study found no supporting evidence for positive associations between racial/ethnic matching and math achievement scores and self-efficacy without considering urbanicity. Within the context of urbanicity, positive associations for math achievement were mainly found in the racial/ethnic matching of Black and Asian students taught by same-race/ethnicity teachers in suburban schools. Conversely, the racial/ethnic matching among Asian students and teachers in rural schools was significantly and negatively associated with both math achievement and self-efficacy. Conclusions/Recommendations By focusing specifically on schools’ urbanicity contexts, policy makers and education leaders should consider the relatively lower percentage of racial/ethnic matching between Black students and teachers in urban and suburban schools, and Hispanic students and teachers in urban and rural schools. As rural Asian populations grow and diversify, Asian teachers from diverse cultural backgrounds are urgently needed in these communities. Contextualized policy solutions that consider school environments and cultural differences and that challenge the one-size-fits-all approach will ultimately better address the specific and diverse needs of students of color living in different communities across the United States.

English language education in developing countries like Malaysia has often been cited as a valuable asset and instrumental in improving the lives of its citizens. While providing quality education in rural Malaysia has always been a challenge, little is known of the status of English language education in rural schools. The recent information provided by the United Nations Human Development Index website shows Malaysia’s rural population is about 23% of the total population of 32 million. Thus, this paper examines published peer-reviewed research articles concerning English education in rural schools to determine the current status, and future needs of rural English education. This review not only highlights the dearth of research in this area but also examines how the current reform initiated for English language education in Malaysia affects rural schools. The findings also reveal that persistent issues such as lack of interest and need to use English among rural students, poor infrastructure and limited resources in schools, and lack of parental support in assisting school work at home remain as major challenges for improvement in English education. The findings also show that published school-based research was generally random studies carried out by independent researchers. Thus, none of the studies in this review reported any planned and coordinated intervention programmes by the Ministry of Education to improve rural English education. While more research is needed, supporting and encouraging critical analysis of current educational practices and policies is vital for ensuring better development and improvement for English education in rural schools.

Why can't rural schools retain young teachers? An analysis of the professional development of rural school teachers in China:Taking teachers in rural western China

ABSTRACTStaffing shortages has been a consistent problem for Australian rural schools. This paper addresses the rural staffing shortage by exploring the motivations and barriers faced by pre-service teachers in an Australian metropolitan university as they explore the prospect of teaching in a rural school. The paper examines two research ideas prevalent in the research literature. Firstly, that introducing pre-service teachers to rural placement experiences enhances their desire to seek teaching positions in rural schools. Secondly, that pre-service teachers from regional or rural backgrounds are more likely to seek teaching jobs in rural settings than their metropolitan counterparts. We draw on data from a longitudinal qualitative study with pre-service teachers in a metropolitan university that were interviewed before, during and after their rural placement. We found that while the second idea stands the test, the first idea, undertaking a rural placement, is not a guarantee to redressing the staffing shortage.

Inequalities in terms of access, retention and completion compromise the provision of quality education in rural schools. Like other developing countries in Africa, South Africa’s rural communities remain disadvantaged compared to their counterparts in urban areas. The achievement of the goals set for 2015 by the millennium declaration – and especially, poverty reduction, food security, universal primary education and gender equity require special efforts in rural areas such as the use of multi-grade education. Multi-grade education is recognised as the viable option for promoting access to basic education for disadvantaged children, especially those living in rural areas. The study investigates the challenges faced by multi-grade teachers in rural South African schools. The study employs a descriptive qualitative case study design. Participants in this study were multi-grade teachers in a rural school. Data collection were done using semi-structured interviews. Two teachers were purposefully selected to participate in this small-scale study. Collected data were analysed qualitatively using themes. The key findings in this study indicate that teachers found teaching in a multi-grade context challenging and difficult. The study also showed that teachers have a negative attitude towards multi-grade teaching. Furthermore, there is no specific training provided for teachers teaching multi-grade classes. The article highlights the need for in-service training and on-going support for teachers in multi-grade schools for the provision of quality education. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n1p531

Teachers' Sense of Efficacy: An Important Factor in School Improvement

This chapter explores the plotlines of resilience as narrated by three early career teachers (ECTs) in rural schools and the deliberation process they undertook in response to their key challenges. Regular online reflections about their transition into rural teaching were collected through www.goingok.org, a digital tool (see Gibson A, Willis J, Morrison C, Crosswell L, Not losing the plot: creating, collecting and curating qualitative data through a web-based application. In The Australian Teacher Education Association (ATEA) 2013 Conference, July 2013, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD. (Unpublished), 2013). Drawing on a transactional-ecological theory of resilience, the qualitative analysis was informed by current literature (see Day C, Gu Q, Resilient teachers, resilient schools: Building and sustaining quality in testing times. Routledge, Oxon, 2014; Mansfield CF, Beltman S, Broadley T, Weatherby-Fell N. Teach Teach Educ 54:77–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2015.11.016, 2016) that highlights the dynamic and ongoing process of interaction between the contextual and personal factors. The analysis was also informed by Archer’s (2000) theories of social realism that enables the interplay between the personal powers of humans to act (PEPs), the affordances and constraints of the structural-material (SEPs) and cultural-discursive systems (CEPs). Rather than focusing solely on the capacities of individual ECTs, or structural and cultural conditions, together the transactional-ecological theories of resilience and Archer’s theoretical concepts enable a more nuanced analysis of the transition experiences for these rural ECTs. The data suggest the ECTs relied heavily on their available personal resources (PEPs) to maintain their resilience; however in doing so, they experienced strong fluctuations as they navigated the constant uncertainty inherent in the first year of teaching as well as the tensions of settling into a small rural community. Furthermore, the researchers recognised that these highly agentic early career teachers were seeking greater access to structural and cultural opportunities (SEPs and CEPs) within their resilience ecologies to affirm their own experiences, expectations and practice with colleagues and school leaders. The findings have implications for initial teacher preparation programs, school leadership and policy development in regard to retaining quality teachers in rural and remote schools.

Pre-service English teachers still need to gain the competence to develop authentic materials with Islamic values, reflected by their low perceived readiness. To reveal their readiness, this study was conducted by using narrative inquiry. The data were gathered from the storytelling of pre-service English teachers pursuing master's degrees at IAIN Kediri. Participants in this study were one male and one female student with teaching experience. The data were analyzed by using thematic analysis. The data showed that the pre-service teachers believed the readiness to develop digitalized authentic materials with Islamic values could have been more optimal. It is because of the existing instructional materials provided by the government, their lack of confidence as new teachers, and their limited autonomous access to their classes as a new teacher. English textbooks provided by the government are only general English. So, it makes the teachers follow the materials instead of developing authentic materials with Islamic values that are fundamentally needed by students studying in Islamic institutions, such as modifying the materials from books to reflect Muslim activities. Therefore, the pre-service teachers must expose themselves to integrated materials books and digital materials with Islamic values.

The aim of the paper is to reveal the challenges of implementation of inclusive education in typical rural schools of Ukraine. The authors performed empirical research to identify attitudes of rural school teachers towards inclusive education as well as their understanding of existing barriers and priorities to improve the quality of educational services for students with special educational needs (SEN). To achieve the aim of the research, the following methods have been used: reviewing of psychological and pedagogical literature, questionnaire surveys, quantitative and qualitative analysis of the obtained data. The outlined problem has been theoretically analyzed and the peculiarities and difficulties of teaching students with special educational needs in rural areas have been substantiated. The paper describes survey responses of teachers involved in the inclusive process in rural schools. 192 representatives of different age categories and regions of Ukraine participated in this empirical study. The paper explores questions of effective management of rural schools, professional cooperation in a team of psychological and pedagogical support of students with special educational needs, promotion of inclusive practices via information and communication technologies (ICT) and STEAM-laboratories, cooperation within local communities, introduction of universal design for learning and others. Prospects for the development of rural inclusive schools in current conditions of digitalization of education also have been identified.

Every year, a number of Chinese undergraduates from urban teacher universities are selected as volunteer pre-service teachers to teach in schools located in underdeveloped rural areas. In this qualitative case study, the researchers explore four pre-service teachers’ 1-year experience as volunteer educators in rural schools, their communities of practice in the south and west of China, and present their reflections on the challenges, including how their responses (re)shaped their teacher identity. It is found that these pre-service teachers have built their social capital through rural teaching experience, and they have begun to construct their professional teacher identity within that transitional community of teaching practice. The paper contributes to discussions of pre-service teacher education and pre-service teacher identity construction in the context of secondary education in rural China and in other parts of the world.

Australia continues to face teaching shortages in rural schools. Indeed, preservice teachers may be reluctant to apply for rural teaching positions, particularly as most have had no rural teaching experiences. What may motivate non-rural preservice teachers to seek employment in rural schools? This study investigates 17 preservice teachers’ first experiences of teaching and living in rural areas. These second and third-year preservice teachers were involved in a five-day rural experience, which included interacting with local communities, living with host families, observing teaching practices, and teaching rural middle-school students. These self-nominated preservice teachers were placed in a variety of rural schools centred around a feeder high school. Data from written transcripts before their rural placements and reflections on their teaching and rural experiences indicated very significant attitudinal changes for teaching in rural areas and dispelled misconceptions about rural living and teaching. Non-rural universities can contribute towards motivating their preservice teachers to seek employment in rural areas. Providing these preservice teachers with a rural experience can create attitudinal changes for teaching and living in rural areas.

Embedded cultivation is a major measure for local universities to address the shortage of professional capital for normal students to teach in rural schools. Based on the survey data of 11,882 local college normal students in five provinces, the research investigated whether embedded cultivation enhances the willingness of local normal university students to teach in rural schools. The research has found that there is a moderate positive correlation between the form, content, and methods of embedded cultivation and the willingness of normal students to teach in rural schools. However, in contrast, bidirectional, transformative, and continuous embedding, acquiring the norms and values of rural teachers, and developing professional competencies in rural education are more important. With the increase in the intensity of embedded cultivation, it has enhanced the willingness of normal students to teach in rural schools, but not all embedded cultivation content has played a positive role. Only formal embedding, developing professional competencies in rural education, and bidirectional embedding can play a positive guiding role. To enhance the willingness of normal students to teach in rural schools, we should strengthen the bidirectional nature of embedded cultivation and enhance the professional matching between normal school students and rural schools; fully implement embedded content to enhance the intrinsic motivation of normal students to teach in rural schools; adopt a multi-dimensional intervention approach to guide normal students to have a correct understanding of teaching in rural schools.