Putting Partnership at the Centre of Teachers' Professional Learning in Rural and Regional Contexts: Evidence from Case Study Projects in Tasmania

Abstract

This paper presents a professional learning (PL) model that emerged from the authors’ involvement with PL processes in several rural and remote schools in the state of Tasmania. As is the case for rural areas generally, young people in rural areas of Tasmania have lower retention rates to Year 12 and lower participation rates in higher education than their urban peers. Schools in these regions typically have less experienced staff, higher staff turnover and reduced access to professional networks compared with urban schools. Four case studies are presented to illustrate the experiences that lead to the partnership model of PL and the authors’ insights into the nature of collaborative partnerships in rural contexts are discussed The study makes a contribution to understanding of the development of effective PL partnerships in rural schools as well as contributing to broader debates about the nature of partnership between teachers and facilitators of PL.