Remote Schools Research Articles

Primate focused conservation education in Paraguay: Doing something Para La Tierra.

Over 91% of the Paraguayan Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest has been cleared and the Gran Chaco is the fastest disappearing habitat on the continent. One of the compounding issues for conservation in Paraguay is the lack of knowledge of the importance of nature amongst the population. Fundación Para La Tierra (PLT) began the country's first Eco-Club program, "Voces de la Naturaleza" (Voices of Nature), in 2016. Three of the curriculums participatory lessons focus on primate conservation. These lessons formed the basis of PLT's Atlantic Forest education programme in 2018 when the team began visiting 22 schools around San Rafael (Tekoha Guasu). To date 26 schools (1,500+ children) across two political departments and four districts have participated in this programme which is now entering its 6th year. The biggest challenges have included the COVID-19 pandemic and the logistics and costs involved in reaching rural and remote schools. Though it is too soon to record observable behavioural change ongoing monitoring over the six year period indicates that children remember the information gained through the participatory methods for several years. We believe that the main reasons for the success of this programme are the collaborations that we have built with the teachers of the schools based on open communication and mutual respect. Though costs can be an issue when beginning, or running, a long-term project we recommend that potential educators not be put off trying and that a lot of good can be achieved with a small amount of funding.

Air Conditioning of an Off-Grid Remote School with an Earth to air Heat Exchanger Coupled Indirectly to a Solar Cooling System

Air Conditioning of an Off-Grid Remote School with an Earth to air Heat Exchanger Coupled Indirectly to a Solar Cooling System

Initial teacher education is not the problem: retaining teachers in regional, rural, and remote schools

ABSTRACT This abstract presents an analysis of federal policies concerning rural, regional, and remote (RRR) teaching, focusing on initial teacher education and teaching quality within these areas. The study utilises Bacchi’s ‘What’s the Problem Represented to Be?’ (WPR) approach to interrogate the framing of RRR teaching issues within policy discourse. Through a comprehensive review of two federal policies, this analysis explores how the design and implementation of teacher education programmes are placed to address the challenges in providing quality education in RRR areas. We underscore the importance of critically examining policy representations to better understand and address the complex issues surrounding RRR teachers and teaching.

Educational communities of rural schools in the arctic (on the example of the Murmansk oblast): A social justice perspective on inclusion

The article addresses the current problem of searching and substantiating mechanisms for the development of inclusive education. The research relevance is also determined by the Arctic context, which corresponds to the epistemological need of modern interdisciplinary knowledge in the development of inclusive education, the priorities of state policy, as well as to the expectations and demands of regional communities. The authors aim to study social interactions within rural schools in the Arctic from the standpoint of inclusion as an indicator of social justice (on the example of the Murmansk Oblast). To that end, rural schools are modelled and described based on the developed criteria. Difficulties experienced by the teachers in the course of inclusive educational process, including when using distance technologies, are typified. According to the results obtained, typical models of rural schools in the Murmansk Oblast include suburban schools and remote schools and their following variants: the school as a territorial cooperation, a border school, an isolated school, and an indigenous school. In all rural school models, under successful formation of external and internal social ties, a shortage of special education teachers is observed. The teachers face methodological, organizational, and social difficulties. In addition, the educational environment is not sufficiently accessible, which forms barriers to social justice. The revealed regional specificity of rural schools serves as a justification for a conceptual and substantive development of Arctic pedagogy. The results obtained are useful for further theoretical and empirical research in the field of inclusive education, as well as for the development of regional programs of inclusive educational practices, taking the differentiation of social conditions into account.

An analysis of Australian teacher workforce policy: Challenges and opportunities for teacher recruitment and retention

The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the shortage of teachers worldwide. Shortages have been reported globally including in countries such as the UK, Netherlands, France, Japan, New Zealand and the United States. In Australia, persistent challenges in teacher recruitment, and retention, especially in disadvantaged schools have worsened, with rural and remote schools struggling to attract teachers, as well as urban schools in disadvantaged areas necessitating fast-tracked policy measures have been necessitated to address the teacher shortage. This paper focuses on teacher workforce policy given its prominence in the conceptualising and responding to teacher workforce shortages. The paper seeks to explore state-level teacher workforce texts with a focus on the ways workforce issues are constructed at a time of chronic teacher shortages. Utilising thematic analysis of six stated development policy texts, the paper argues state responses continue to emphasise teacher workforce planning based on a labour market perspective that prioritises teacher recruitment as the primary mechanism for addressing the teacher shortages. A delay in addressing the conditions of teachers’ work and the status of the profession as well as a notable inattention to priority areas such as hard-to-staff schools is also noted.

A - 61 Lifelong Intellectual Developmental Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosed in Early Adulthood: Implications for a Patient Residing in Frontier America

Abstract Objective Individuals residing in frontier America often lack access to specialized medical care. Obstacles to receiving accurate diagnosis and intervention of neuropsychological conditions in childhood is common and individuals and families may have difficulty in adapting to the implications of such diagnoses later in life. Methods This 18-year-old Caucasian male from frontier Kansas first presented for neurological or neuropsychological workup in adulthood. History was noteworthy for premature birth, late attainment of milestones, respiratory conditions resulting in multiple instances of cardiac arrest, and facial dysmorphism. Education was attended remotely due to risk of respiratory infection. Parents reported several atypical traits, including hyperfixation on automobiles, high pain threshold, and low frustration tolerance resulting in outbursts. Patient was considered socially and academically delayed, which parents attributed to remote school attendance. No support services were in place. Results Neuropsychological evaluation showed FSIQ = 71 and pronounced executive dysfunction. Parental questionnaire evidenced deficits in adaptive functioning, most pronounced in self-direction and social skills. Patient and parents denied significant concerns on behavioral health questionnaire. Paraeducator endorsed concerns in atypicality, attention/learning problems, and functional communication. Conclusions This young man’s presentation and estimated cognitive and functional abilities are consistent with mild intellectual developmental disorder and autism spectrum disorder. On feedback, this information was distressing to parents; capabilities in some complex tasks may have masked his deficits. Although parents were resistant to findings, it is believed these labels will assist in explaining abnormal behaviors, attaining services, and facilitating genetic testing and related medical care.

“Smooth seas never made a skilled sailor”: Indigenous students’ academic buoyancy and the locale of the learner

This article explores how academic buoyancy, a concept from the educational psychology literature, can be used to understand the experiences of Indigenous secondary students’ schooling. Academic buoyancy refers to students’ ability to overcome everyday challenges of schooling. In this project, 11 Indigenous secondary students in a remote school shared their experiences of school and how they developed a range of capabilities to overcome the everyday challenges. Factors often seen as cultural impediments for Indigenous students, such as the “shame factor”, can be viewed as agentic attempts by Indigenous students to develop new capacities, such as a strategy to deal with the fear of failure. It is through these attempts that students develop strategies to negotiate the classroom without giving up their own cultural positions. This article extends earlier research on resilience to focus on the development of academically buoyant capacities that allow students to better navigate the complexities at the locale of the remote Indigenous learner.

Supporting small remote school teachers’ professional development through networked learning designs

Equal education is a buzzword, but the description of how it will arise differs. Spatial educational inequality is shown in several studies, and one explanation of this is the lack of professional development for teachers in remote schools due to the distance to peers. In the small remote schools, the teachers are few, and they are often solitary teachers, according to grade and subject. Therefore, the networked learning design needs to be adapted to these unique conditions. In this study, networked learning is put in the context of rural education, more specifically in relation to teachers’ professional development. In rural and remote schools, networked learning designs enabled by digital technologies can afford equal education. The web-based professional development could compensate for the distance between schools. Therefore, the aim of this study concerns the relationship between networked learning designs and the professional development of teachers in small remote schools. It is guided by the research question: How is networked learning designed and arranged to support teachers’ professional development in small remote schools? The sampled data contains transcripts from meetings and interviews from an ethnographic study. The study applied the theory of practice architecture (TPA) to analyse the data. The concepts of sayings, doings, and relatings from TPA provided the analysis to understand the studied practices. In TPA, these concepts and practices all ‘hang together’ in a project. The project in the studied practices is professional development. The preliminary findings show the networks emerge in the district of several small remote schools and are arranged in two different networked learning designs. One is meetings in real life, with time-consuming travels, but a networked learning design with many social aspects embracing time for dinner and visiting different schools. This design enabled sensemaking, an important process in remote areas, including meetings adapted to the sense of place. The other networked learning design for professional development in the district was web-based meetings, including fewer social arrangements but a higher frequency of meetings. When this meeting was combined with real-life meetings it worked well and enabled sayings, doings, and relatings in the professional development practice.

Researching School Engagement of Aboriginal Students and Their Families from Regional and Remote Areas Project

Over the last few years, attendance rates in remote schools have fallen, and Year 12 completions have also dropped. We are not sure why this is, though events like COVID-19, floods and other natural disasters have not made it easy. The case study presented here was part of a bigger project that sought to understand what people in remote schools and the communities they are in think makes a difference to attendance and Year 12 completion. This case study outlines the findings specific to one of the four case study sites, namely, Yipirinya School on Arrernte Country in Mparntwe (Alice Springs). The overarching finding of the study indicates that attendance alone cannot be the primary measure of school success; rather, engagement needs to be the focus. To tease out this finding, the three main themes: relationships, purpose, and cultural safety, are identified as factors that made a difference at Yipirinya School.

Investigating Remote School Attendance, Retention and Engagement

Predating the introduction of the Closing the Gap strategy in 2007, First Nation students’ attendance, retention and engagement in remote schools has been a concern for educators and successive governments. The following paper describes a case study—one part of a large Australian federally funded ‘Emerging Priorities Program’ project that sought to examine these issues. Specifically, it explores those factors that contribute to either exacerbating the decline in attendance, engagement or retention or lead to improved outcomes. The case study was undertaken at a Vocational Education and Training boarding school catering for Aboriginal students, mostly from remote areas of Western Australia. Students travel considerable distance to attend the school, often because of their family connections to the school. In this study students from one of the English classes became co-researchers in the project, providing input and collaborating at every stage of the research process.The findings indicate the need to adopt a strength-based approach when teaching remote students. This can be achieved through positive relationships between educators and students, which, in turn, is developed through cultural awareness and the use of community members and Aboriginal educators as role models and human resources for schools.

KOMITMEN GURU DALAM MENINGKATKAN PENCAPAIAN MURID ORANG ASLI DI PEDALAMAN: SATU KAJIAN KES

The primary challenge faced by educators in continuing their professional service in the field of education is teaching in remote schools which is often associated with lack of resources, especially in terms of infrastructure and facilities. This scarcity affects not only the daily lives of teachers but also the execution of their teaching duties. A critical attribute that teachers must possess to overcome these challenges is commitment. Previous studies have found that teachers with a high level of commitment are capable of overcoming any challenges to provide the highest quality of education to their students. Therefore, this study aims to examine the commitment in teachers working at an indigenous school in Perak, Malaysia, striving to ensure that they deliver the best education to their students, preventing them from falling behind their urban and suburban counterparts. This qualitative case study was conducted in an indigenous school in a remote region of Perak, Malaysia. Four teachers were selected as participants through purposive sampling. Interview, document analysis, and observation were carried out to study the actual situation of commitment towards education among the respondents. The study discovered that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, networking, and professional development could enhance teacher commitment in remote schools. To improve the quality of education in remote areas, it is essential to provide support and incentives to teachers in maintaining their high level of commitment. Moreover, this study offers insights into how the educational system can better support teachers in remote areas.

Cumulative Disadvantage or Strained Advantage? Remote Schooling, Paid Work Status, and Parental Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, parents experienced difficulties around employment and children's schooling, likely with detrimental mental health implications. We analyze National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 data (N = 2,829) to estimate depressive symptom changes from 2019 to 2021 by paid work status and children's schooling modality, considering partnership status, gender, and race-ethnicity differences. We draw on cumulative disadvantage theory alongside strained advantage theory to test whether mental health declines were steeper for parents with more disadvantaged statuses or for parents with more advantaged statuses. Parents with work disruptions, without paid work, or with children in remote school experienced the greatest increases in depressive symptoms, with steepest increases among single parents without paid work and single parents with children in remote school (cumulative disadvantage), fathers without paid work (strained advantage), and White parents with remote school (strained advantage). We discuss the uneven impacts of the pandemic on mental health and implications for long-term health disparities.

Renegotiating Work-Home Boundaries: Reconciliations of Remote Work and School During COVID-19

This article contributes to understanding the radical transformation of everyday lives when parents’ remote work and children’s remote school were reconciled in homes during the early moments of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The dataset comprises an online survey (n = 92) plus interviews, online diaries, and sampled experiences from 16 Finnish remotely working parents. Identified challenges to the parents’ remote work included interruptions and fragmentation of work tasks, non-optimal work ergonomics, and rescheduling of work times. We present the strategies parents used to create new rhythms and routines, a shared space under the same roof, peace, and privacy for daily work and school, as well as managing multiple simultaneous social roles. Parents’ rich experiences provide insights into the early steps of COVID-19-catalyzed remote work. Thus, the paper offers a reference point for exploring potential development trajectories in the increasingly common hybrid work setting.

AUDIOBOOKS

The area of education has so many themes that a study can branch out from different perspectives and still seem to lack an argument for so many sayings. For this reason, this article discusses a little of a pedagogical resource that is becoming a reality today, especially in a time of pandemic, in which the world was affected in the year 2020: reading in the lives of children in the remote school process. Audiobooks are new reading resources that are gaining space in schools. A different way from the usual is not about nonsense with reading, but about a new view on it; different but updated. As reading is a process in the student's life, and this does not happen immediately, the incentive of the teacher is an important part in the training of a student reader. Every child should be encouraged to know the literature so that he / she knows the importance of reading and interpreting, therefore, associating literacy and reading should be a pedagogical strategy for the teacher who seeks an adequate and continuous training process for his students. Due to the new format of Brazilian education in a pandemic era, audiobooks are used as a virtual technology tool.

THE EFFECT OF THE PRINCIPAL'S LEADERSHIP STYLE ON THE MOTIVATION AND JOB PERFORMANCE OF TEACHERS IN RURAL SCHOOLS IN CHINA

This research sought to investigate the link between Chinese rural school administrators' leadership philosophies and their employees' level of satisfaction. The researchers examined the connection between job happiness and leadership styles using a variety of ideas. To analyse the data, they used information from 1438 instructors and 151 rural schools. The findings demonstrated that, whereas passive avoidant leadership had a negative correlation with work satisfaction, transformational leadership practices raised teachers' levels of job satisfaction. Additionally, the research found that the emotional aspect of workers' commitment to the organization tempered some relationships between leadership styles and job satisfaction. Certain leadership styles were associated with all components of national culture, except for masculinity. The results suggest that when putting leadership ideas into practice in rural schools, educators and legislators should take these findings into account. To fully comprehend the intricate connection between leadership philosophies and work happiness in remote schools, further investigation is required.

What are the success factors for schools in remote Indigenous communities?

AbstractIndigenous Australian students generally attain poorer educational outcomes compared to non‐Indigenous students. However, some remote schools are challenging the status quo by providing schooling experiences where Indigenous students thrive. Using an Indigenous research paradigm and a comparative case study methodology, we conducted interviews with stakeholders from two different remote community schools where students were predominantly Indigenous. Recognising the limitations of assessing student success solely on westernised concepts of success, we adopted a strengths‐based approach. Using thematic analysis, qualitative data were analysed to yield themes that were sorted using a model of Indigenous wellbeing comprising five dimensions (academic, cultural, physical, psychological and social wellbeing). Responses from stakeholders (teachers, community leaders and students) show that success can be achieved when local culture is respected and incorporated into the curriculum by dedicated staff who maintain open communication with community. While both schools shared a largely common approach to Indigenous education, a hallmark was their responsiveness to local needs.

Telemedicina em um Ambulatório de Síndrome de Down no Brasil durante a Pandemia do Covid-19

Objective: This study aims to analyze the use of telemedicine during the Covid-19 pandemic (efficiency, effectiveness, positive and negative points as a modality of care) and educational and therapeutic parameters of the patient with Down syndrome during this period. Methods: Data were collected remotely using an online form created by the authors and answered by patients or their caregivers from the Down Syndrome Outpatient Clinic of a university hospital in the South of Brazil. Results: 65 responses were received, with 44.6% of the participants residing in Curitiba, 32.3% in the metropolitan region, 12.3% in the interior of Paraná and 10.8% in other states. Twenty-eight (43.1%) receive the Continued Benefit of Social Assistance. As for education, 41.5% attended special schools, 26.2% regular education, 10.8% both regular education and special education, and 21.5% do not studied. During the pandemic, 81.3% had remote school activities, and 41.3% did not undergo therapy. Health needs were met with consultation through telemedicine in 96.7%. Strengths: not having to go to the clinic (59.4%), easy access to the consultation (71.9%), feeling comfortable with the telemedicine consultation (46.9%), feeling understood by doctors (42.2%), having their doubts and concerns answered (62.5%), not having to miss work (25%). Weakness: impossibility of carrying out the physical examination (100%), connection problems (18.6%), feeling uncomfortable with the telemedicine consultation (10%). Conclusion: Telemedicine was a viable option for patients with Down syndrome during the Covid-19 pandemic with many positive points. During the pandemic, 81.3% had remote school activities, and 41.3% didnt go to therapies.

Engagement, Mental Health, and Substance Use Under In-Person or Remote School Instruction During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Adolescents' school engagement, mental health, and substance use have been major concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly given disruptions to school instruction. We examined how the instructional setting was associated with academic and health-related outcomes within an adolescent cohort followed during the pandemic. During 3 semi-annual follow-up surveys, adolescents (N = 1066 students; 2242 observations) from 8 California high schools responded to items measuring academic self-efficacy, school connectedness, internalizing and externalizing problems, and use of substances. Separate generalized estimating equation models predicted outcomes based on the instructional setting. Relative to in-person instruction, students in remote instruction reported lower academic self-efficacy (Beta: -0.11; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.22, -0.01) and school connectedness (Beta: -0.37; 95% CI: -0.48, -0.25), greater odds of past 30-day internalizing problems (AOR: 1.46; 95% CI: 1.09, 1.95), externalizing problems (AOR: 1.36; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.82), and cigarette, cigar, smokeless tobacco, or hookah use (AOR: 2.50; 95% CI: 1.06, 5.91), but lower odds of past 30-day e-cigarette use (AOR: 0.50; 95% CI: 0.30, 0.86). Multiple adverse outcomes related to school engagement, mental health, and substance use were associated with remote instruction. To reduce such impacts under future emergencies, schools should rely sparingly on remote instruction and provide appropriate supportive resources.

Introducing Reflective Teaching Practice in Remote School: Teacher-Student Interaction Patterns

This study aimed to analyze classroom interactions in the reflective teaching practice based on learning objectives and types of interactions, types of student questions and answers, and gender and student achievement. Teacher-student interactions, particularly in reflective learning, have been discussed in depth in urban schools. However, few studies reported the interactions between teachers and students in remote areas. The data collected for this cross-sectional study are part of a broader longitudinal research project. The participants comprised 46 students and 4 teachers from 3 remote schools representing 3 districts in Indonesia. The results showed that most of the teacher-student interactions in reflective teaching practice contained feedback that focused on students' correct and incorrect answers yet rarely discussed how students got answers. Teacher reflection was evaluative by discussing matters related to learning objectives. While reflections have not yet been related to the teacher’s method. This study also reported that gender and achievement did not affect the reflective teaching practice.

Helpline-Informed Approaches to Remote Learning Needs for Students at Risk of Maltreatment

Remote schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic offered a window into unique concerns regarding student well-being, particularly for students lacking a safe and supportive home environment. We sought to identify school-related concerns voiced by youth under age 25 who reported distress to a hotline via text or chat while in remote school during the pandemic. Qualitative thematic analysis was conducted on 60 transcripts. Help-seekers were an average age of 15.4 years (range: 10-21 years), from 25 states and Canada, and mostly female (57%). Our results yielded five student concerns: feeling trapped, school as escape, isolation, distress from parental schoolwork enforcement, and accommodation challenges for students with disabilities. We identified needs regarding novel methods for abuse reporting, social support, and access to services for student mental health, students with disabilities, and parents. This work demonstrates the importance of incorporating the voices of vulnerable youth in interventions to support students during remote learning.