A Synthesis of International Rural Education Issues and Responses

This article synthesizes problems impacting rural primary and secondary schools and describes how schools and relevant organizations have responded to the challenges. Given the context of a globally-compressed world, the focus of the literature review is on international rural education research and strategies. The exploration took the path of topical rather than regional or methodological investigation of rural education for the purpose of thematic understanding of issues. The paper opens with a discussion of the ambiguity of the definition of “rural” to reinforce an epistemological challenge with rural education research. An adaptation of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory is used as a framework for the literature review; rural education challenges are synthesized into macro-, mezzo-, and micro-systemic level issues. The paper culminates by positing that rural education issues require inter-sectoral and collaborative responses

Teaching About Hegemony: Race, Class and Democracy in the 21st Century

This is a review of Paul Orlowski's "Teaching About Hegemony: Race, Class and Democracy in the 21st Century." Using Canadian and American contexts as a backdrop for social studies teaching, he argues for critical media literacy and politicization of teachers of social studies. This book is theoretically rich and practically oriented with questions at end of the chapters to prompt further discussion and self-reflection. it is suitable as a conceptual guide and classroom textbook for university educators teaching curriculum/methods in the area of social studies

PARENTS AND COMMUNITY, AND SCHOOL: A GENERAL OVERVIEW

This Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy special issue, “Parent and Community Participation in Educational Improvement,” was inspired by the recognition of the ecological nature of schools; participative approaches to educational improvement, educational policy development, and school decision-making have become commonplace. It is, however, one matter to theoretically and/or philosophically accept parents and the larger community as contributors to educational goals, and rather quite another to enunciate this Zeitgeist of collaboration, partnership, or authentic engagement in mutually beneficial ways. In other words, this special issue is premised on the assumption that an academic exploration of parent and community engagement in education is required to strengthen the discourse beyond an uncontested and romanticized rhetoric of school community

Lesbian and Gay Parents’ Experiences and their Relationships with/in Schools: An Alberta Study

Researchers have identified challenges for sexual minority individuals in schools; however, attention to lesbian and gay parents’ experiences with their children’s schools has not been given. We used a qualitativecase study involving one identified gay couple and one identified lesbian couple to document their experiences and relationships with/in their children’s urban publicly funded schools. Individual interviews with these parents were the chief data source, which we augmented through reviewing school documents. Through the lens of critical queer theory, we interpreted three themes: (1) lesbian and gay parents are shaped by the teachers’, administrators’, and other parents’ openness of attitudes and willingness to question assumptions about family; (2) lesbian and gay parents feel included, or excluded, depending on the policy and administrative processes that symbolically frame definitions of parenthood; and (3) lesbian and gay parents are sensitive to school climate as expressed through gesture, speech, and artefacts in the school. These four parents had the social capital to navigate barriers and opportunities. However, through the lens of critical queer theory, we conclude that there are real and symbolic markers and practices that normalize a heterosexual understanding of ‘parent’ in two-parent families that necessitates lesbian and gay parents to be intentional and vigilante about their positions in ways that heterosexual parents are not required to be to feel welcome in schools

Casting a New Light on a Long Shadow: Saskatchewan Aboriginal High School Students Talk About What Helps and Hinders their Learning

What do teachers do (or not do) that makes you want to go to school? A team of Saskatchewan researchers asked Saskatchewan Aboriginal high school students this question about the aspects of instructional practice that helps and hinders their learning. While responses pointed to several aspects, teacher relational instincts and capacities were the most influential in school engagement for this group of Aboriginal students. Students in this study described three relational capacities of effective teachers: a) empathetic responsiveness to the student as whole being, b) the degree to which teacher disposition influenced the relational dynamic with students, and c) teachers’ responsiveness to the full context of the student’s life (including a sensibility of the student’s Indigenous culture). Through a case study process, focus group interviews were conducted in six Saskatchewan schools. The study included 75 Aboriginal high school students from six schools (urban, rural, provincial, and First Nations band schools) in Saskatchewan, Canada. The qualitative case study research design was informed by Indigenous principles, and the theoretical lens employed in the analysis relied predominately upon an Indigenous theoretical perspective, as articulated by Smith and Perkins (as cited in Kovach, 2014). The findings point to the teaching attributes of relationality, responsibility, and understanding of contextuality identified within an Indigenous theoretical framework as influential in fostering engaged learning environments for this group of Aboriginal high school students.Que font, ou ne font pas, les enseignants pour vous donner envie d’aller à l’école? Une équipe de chercheurs de la Saskatchewan ont posé cette question à des élèves autochtones au secondaire pour connaitre les aspects de la pratique pédagogique qui aident ou qui nuisent à leur apprentissage. Les réponses ont dévoilé plusieurs aspects, mais ce groupe d’élèves autochtones a indiqué que les instincts relationnels et les capacités des enseignants étaient les facteurs les plus influents dans leur engagement scolaire. Les élèves qui ont participé à cette étude ont décrit trois capacités relationnelles d’enseignants efficaces : a) leur réceptivité emphatique face aux élèves comme êtres entiers, b) la mesure dans laquelle le caractère de l’enseignant influençait la dynamique relationnelle avec les élèves et c) la réactivité des enseignants devant tout le contexte de la vie des élèves (y compris une sensibilité à la culture autochtone des élèves). Suivant un processus d’étude de cas, des entrevues ont eu lieu auprès de groupes de discussion dans six écoles en Saskatchewan. L’étude a impliqué 75 élèves au secondaire dans des écoles en milieu urbain et rural ainsi que des écoles de bande en Saskatchewan, au Canada. Le plan de recherche de cette étude qualitative de cas tenait compte de principes autochtones et la perspective théorique de l’analyse reposait largement sur une optique autochtone, telle que formulée par Smith et Perkins (citée dans Kovach, 2014). Les résultats indiquent que les caractéristiques de l’enseignement portant sur la relationnalité, la responsabilité et la compréhension de la contextualité telles qu’identifiées dans un cadre théorique autochtone jouent un rôle influent dans la promotion de milieux d’apprentissage actifs pour ce groupe d’élèves autochtones au secondaire

A Study of Teacher Growth, Supervision, and Evaluation in Alberta: Policy and Perception in a Collective Case Study

Teacher effectiveness has long been identified as critical to student success and, more recently, supporting students attaining the skills and dispositions required to be successful in the early 21st century. To do so requires that teachers engage in professional learning characterized as a shift away from conventional models of evaluation and judgment. Accordingly, school and system leaders must create “policies and environments designed to actively support teacher professional growth” (Bakkenes, Vermunt, & Webbels, 2010). This paper reports on the Alberta Teacher Growth, Supervision, and Evaluation (TGSE) Policy (Government of Alberta, 1998) through the eyes of teachers, school leaders, and superintendents. The study sought to answer the following two questions: (1) To what extent, and in what ways, do teachers, principals, and superintendents perceive that ongoing supervision by the principal provides teachers with the guidance and support they need to be successful? and, (2) To what degree, and in what ways, does the TGSE policy provide a foundation to inform future effective policy and implementation of teacher growth, supervision, and evaluation? Results affirm international findings that although a majority of principals consider themselves as instructional leaders, only about one third actually act accordingly (OECD, 2016)