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The main reason for the research significance is misconceptions arising in the field when implementing Sekolah Penggerak Program, which started in 2021. Thus, the objectives of this study are to describe programs for enhancing exceptional human resources, and to explore the Kurikulum Operasional Satuan Pendidikan (Education Unit Operational Curriculum), and the Merdeka Curriculum learning. Four elementary schools in Indonesia's urban and rural areas served as the research unit for analysis, which used a qualitative comparative case study design. The results demonstrate that the programs of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology for improving human resources, which includes training and mentoring, have a favourable effect on both rural and urban primary schools. However, only one out of four schools examined the context of the educational unit while creating education unit operational curriculum documents, and every school simply used education unit operational curriculum as a prerequisite for administrative fulfilment. Based on the available components, all teachers developed teaching modules for the Merdeka Curriculum. It was found, nevertheless, that the students were not genuinely exposed to the content of these modules.

This study was an exploration of COVID-19 anxiety and its relationship with teacher burnout. The study was a cross-sectional survey research design with a convenience sample drawn from a population of K-12 public school teachers. A non-parametric statistical test, Kruskal-Wallis, showed a statistically significant difference in teacher burnout across the three grade levels: X[superscript 2] (2, N = 61) = 6.20, p = 0.045. Teacher burnout was lowest amongst elementary school teachers (M = 47.00) when compared to middle school (M = 74.00) and high school teachers (M = 71.00). Implications include a need for increased administrative support and decreased stress levels for teachers.

This study aimed to explore the top-down or compact accountability relationship for curriculum implementation in rural public primary schools in the East Wollega zone administration, Ethiopia. An exploratory case study type and a multiple case study research design were employed. A purposeful sampling technique was used. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews and document reviews. The data were analyzed qualitatively by coding and describing patterns and themes in the raw data. The study utilized triangulation, expert reviews, and member checking to ensure internal validity and reliability. The findings of the study reveal that the compact accountability relationship between the policymakers and the curriculum implementers was loosely exercised and compromised by main determinants such as weak capacity, poor monitoring progress, and politicization of the policymakers' roles and responsibilities. This study also affirms that a compact accountability relationship was seriously operational to collect easily achievable reports, which led policymakers to be unsuccessful in communicating their clear duties and responsibilities for the curriculum implementation to hold implementers accountable as stated in the government proclamation. Hence, it can be concluded that accountability stands for responsibilities outside the classroom by missing the actual curriculum implementation. The study recommends that the regional education bureau, in collaboration with the Ethiopian Ministry of Education, establish an autonomous and independent policymakers' office that acts as an overseer and holds curriculum implementers accountable by visiting schools, pointing out mistakes, writing reports, and exercising accountability mechanisms. The study suggests that teachers and school principals ought to be held accountable for their particular duties and responsibilities instead of producing reports for higher-level commands that take them away from effectively implementing the curriculum.

Students who are educated by schools in rural areas experienced challenges around the world even before the COVID-19 pandemic, such as lack of resources and inadequate infrastructure (Çiftçi & Cin, 2018; Dube, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic drew attention to the inequities of the conditions facing students in rural areas (EDC, 2020). These unique challenges were evident for those serving low-incidence disability populations, such as those children with visual impairment. There are unique challenges in providing support to students and their families with visual impairments in rural areas of the country. Those challenges included need for additional supports in technology, internet infrastructure, funding, and full access to accessible materials. Concerns over the health and well-being of teachers and students with visual impairments were also expressed as concerns but was not unique for teachers of students with visual impairments in rural areas.

Purpose: This study elucidates the rationale, implementation, values, and challenges of the Synergized Quality Improvement Program in Teacher Education (SQIPTE)--the first policy specifically dedicated to the development of teaching staff since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Design/Approach/Methods: After introducing the primary structure and rationale of the SQIPTE, this study reviews the existing data and research to explain why the program focuses on local normal colleges and determine how it could be implemented more effectively. Findings: In establishing group-based assistance under the principle of "1 + M + N" (M [greater than or equal to] N), the SQIPTE seeks to make normal colleges the primary force in the education of rural teachers and explores a collaborative operating mechanism to this end. Evidence suggests that this innovative program will provide new practical experience for the collaborative development and quality improvement of teachers. Originality/Value: This study reviews the SQIPTE as a new Chinese intervention to improve the quality of rural teachers. There is strong evidence to suggest that this innovative program will inspire the construction of collaborative operating mechanisms incorporating multiple resources for teacher education systems across different areas.

South African teachers experience challenges with the implementation of the national school curriculum -- the "Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement" (CAPS). In this regard, teachers may not feel empowered to effectively deal with the demands of the current educational policy. Concerns have been expressed about learners' poor performance in schools and the school infrastructure coupled with educational capacity emerged to be a possible contributing factor. In the study reported on here we focused on the challenges experienced by South African life sciences teachers in the implementation of CAPS caused by limited resources. The context of the study was secondary schools in 1 sub-district in the Northwest province that offered life sciences (LS) in Grades 10 to 12. A qualitative research approach was followed and 10 teachers from rural public schools who taught LS in Grades 10 to 12 during the period of this study were purposefully selected. For data generation, we used audio recordings from individual and focus-group interviews. The findings indicate that teachers' needs in terms of resources to effectively implement CAPS are often not catered for. It is recommended that adequate teaching and learning resources for effective implementation of CAPS should be provided. The Department of Education's prioritisation of teachers' needs will engender effective curriculum implementation.

With this study we investigated strategies to support rural-based schools in teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was conducted in 6 secondary schools in the Maune circuit, Capricorn North district of the Limpopo province, South Africa. A qualitative research approach using a case study research design was followed in the study. The population consisted of 42 school management teams (SMTs) and school governing bodies (SGBs) in the Maune circuit. Purposive sampling was used to select 18 participants. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews. A thematic approach was used to analyse the data. The social realist theory was adopted as theoretical framework using the concepts of structure, culture and agency as theoretical lenses. We found that the Department of Basic Education did not train SMTs and SGBs, which affected teaching and learning. We concluded that due to the unavailability of ICT infrastructure within the Maune circuit, teaching and learning during strict lockdown (coronavirus disease [COVID-19]) were impossible and difficult when learners were rotating attendance. We recommend a shift from a blanket approach to school support to conducting an intensive needs analysis for each school in order to provide appropriate and relevant support. A social realist approach to school support is also recommended, where structure and culture are considered critical attributes for school development. It will be good for policy makers, role players and stakeholders to work together towards a common goal and carry out their agential role in ensuring that the needs of marginalised learners are met in schools.

There is an urgent need to establish classroom libraries, especially in rural areas where learners hardly come across any reading material. The purpose of this study was to investigate how teachers set up classroom libraries in rural areas of the Mogodumo circuit in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The study was qualitative in nature. Fifteen English First Additional Language (EFAL) teachers from 12 schools participated in the study. Observation and semi-structured interviews were employed to collect data. It was found that while all participants recognised the importance of reading for their learners, only 7 of the 15 teachers managed to establish classroom libraries. The study revealed that teacher self-efficacy (TSE) played a crucial role in setting up classroom libraries, given the serious challenges of funding, resources and support experienced by rural schoolteachers. Teachers with high TSE managed to establish classroom libraries by using their own time, money, and resources, while those with low TSE failed to establish classroom libraries. We recommend that school managers should make time and resources available to rural schoolteachers to enable them to establish classroom libraries.

Tensions exist between providing inclusive education in mainstream classrooms and market-driven neoliberal values such as academic success and school ranking. These values impinge on teachers' responsibilities to teach students with disabilities. Schools are ranked based on students' performance in national examinations and schools sometimes use unscrupulous methods to achieve good results. In a culture that ranks schools based on test results, the schools themselves find it hard to embrace the idea of inclusion and some will use a variety of means to exclude students with disabilities to maintain their high rating. In this article we explore how some key tenets of neoliberalism in inclusive education, such as testing mechanisms to leverage accountability and improvement, inter-school competition, marketisation of education and parental choice, among others, affect the provision of education to students with disabilities in Kenya. We highlight how neoliberalism has affected inclusive education in Kenya and explain how hegemonic neoliberal culture has changed the way schools operate and how teachers teach. We also show how neoliberal culture in schools helps exclude students who are different from the norm.

The teaching of English First Additional Language (EFAL) in South Africa is gradually changing from the traditional style because of the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts are being made to stimulate learners' interest in learning which include using information communication technology (ICT) in the form of e-learning to enhance understanding. The outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was a major challenge as it compelled teachers to engage in online teaching -- even those who were never trained in the use of technology. A qualitative research method in the form of semi-structured interviews was used to collect data from 15 EFAL teachers who were purposefully selected on the basis that they used e-learning to supplement their face-to-face teaching. I found that the integration of e-learning to the traditional physical contact style was essential in improving the teaching of EFAL. The majority of participants, however, highlighted that they still encountered challenges related to heavy workload and efforts to complete items listed in the work programme. Inadequate training of teachers on e-learning, a lack of resources and poor connectivity also acted as barriers to the full implementation of blended learning, which considerably improves learners' performance.

This paper focuses on a study conducted in two historically disadvantaged schools (deep-rural and semi-urban) in South Africa where the rising access to mobile technology implies that the long-standing promise of mobile learning is becoming accessible despite the lack of recent research. This research aims to investigate the relationship between the type of school and various aspects of mobile phone use as well as differences in behavioural intention constructs to use mobile phones for learning. After a literature review, several hypotheses were developed. Using non-probability sampling techniques and the survey method, data was obtained from 128 participants, 79 from the deep-rural school and 49 from the semi-urban school. The semi-urban school exhibited slightly higher percentages in all aspects of cell phone use. Outside of mobile phone ownership and Internet access, all associations were significant. Significant differences were reported in favour of the semi-urban school for all constructs regarding the behavioural intention to use mobile phones for learning. However, the future of m-learning appears to be more promising than reported in earlier research by reporting positive behaviour from students in both schools. Critical stakeholders in education should take note and move from the goals of improving broad access to explicit objectives to implement m-learning in rural schools.

Background: The most effective indigenous games well known to pre-schoolers must be used in schools, given the significance of literacy and numeracy abilities in children's future educational prospects and successes. Aim: The goal of this article was to determine the efficacy of indigenous games in promoting literacy and numeracy skills among preschool children. Setting: Ten teachers were selected from the four rural selected schools in Zambia with Early Child Education (ECE) centres. Methods: The article used a participatory action research design with a purposive sampling technique. The researchers used interviews and participatory observations to collect data. Results: The study found that indigenous games, when used effectively, can have the potential to promote the child's literacy and numeracy skills, even though some teachers found them challenging to execute. The study adopted a thematic analysis approach to analyse a set of data and search for patterns in its interpretation to identify themes. Conclusion: The study has shown that indigenous games have many benefits for preschoolers' learning. The study recommends that teachers should attend intensive continuing professional development (CPD) workshops and seminars to gain the knowledge and abilities necessary to effectively and suitably teach ECE learners pertinent skills through traditional games. Parents should be involved in teaching traditional games. Besides, the curricula of universities and colleges of education should include instructions in indigenous games for teacher preparation. Contribution: Research on the use of indigenous games in promoting the acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills in Zambia is limited, hence this enquiry.

This hermeneutic phenomenology addressed the problem of falling teacher retention rates of K-12 teachers due to teacher burnout by exploring the lived experiences of teacher leaders and how they are motivated by physical artifacts. The theory framing this study is thing theory. Thing theory framed the study by exploring life experience and the relationship between teacher leaders and their things. The study offered additional information on the use of physical artifacts in qualitative research and the object discussion. This hermeneutic phenomenology used a triangulation of data collection including the semi-structured interview, object discussion, and in-person interviews. The research study setting was a K-12 charter school incorporated in rural Southeastern United States. The study included 16 teacher leaders from grades 2-12. Eligible candidates earned a qualifying score between 124 and 155 on the pre-screening survey, a valid and reliable tool adapted from two specific teacher leadership instruments. Findings suggest that teacher leadership creates positive experiences for teacher leadership and that physical artifacts motivate teacher leaders by creating a relational bridge and affirming professional choice.

The making of education governance reforms has led to the transfer of school management powers to teachers' and parents' representatives through primary school management committees. However, the committees have been found to be inadequate in ensuring that collective action is taken by their male and female members in most low- and middle-income countries. In response, this paper examines the possibilities that collective action by school committees is related to gender inequality, controlling for demographic and socio-economic factors across the rural (Iringa District) and urban (Arusha City) contexts of Tanzania. The results of a simple linear regression analysis using Ordinary Least Square techniques show that gender inequality predicts the collective action in school committees in both Arusha City and Iringa District. However, the multiple linear regression model predicts gender inequality in Arusha, and not in Iringa, controlling for membership experience and occupational status for both the rural and urban samples. This paper has implications for both policy and practice. In particular, the next round of school autonomy reforms needs to consider the criteria for school committee membership to incorporate membership experience and occupational status into the qualifications of parents' representatives. In practice, head teachers need to devise innovative, sustainable approaches using the readily available resources to provide planning, budgeting and monitoring skills-based training to newly elected parent representatives.

Indigenous populations, constituting 6.2% of the global population, face challenges in STEM education due to systemic barriers and limited exposure to science and engineering. Our research, part of a federally funded project, aimed to address these challenges by implementing Community-Based Engineering (CBE) education in an elementary school located on a Native American Reservation in the United States. In this paper, we used CBE as our theoretical framework situating engineering within the context of students' communities and cultures. Our participants included 15 students and two Native American teachers with varying teaching experience. We employed mixed methods and combined quantitative tools such as the Engineering Identity Development Scale and the Engineering & Technology subscale of the S-STEM survey, with qualitative data from teacher and student interviews. Our analysis revealed significant changes in students' perceptions of engineering for their communities and their personal engineering identities after they engaged with CBE lessons. We also found that the cultural connections to community were evident in student interviews. Furthermore, teachers appreciated CBE and emphasized that these engineering lessons enrich their rich traditions and practices. This study highlights the effectiveness of CBE and demonstrates how engineering education can be more inclusive and resonant with Indigenous students.

The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted schooling, not only in South Africa, but globally. In the study reported on here we investigated the perceived psychosocial effects of the pandemic on the teaching realities of Foundation Phase (FP) educators in rural quintiles 1 to 3 schools in the North West province, South Africa. A qualitative, case study design was adopted with 10 educators purposively selected from 3 schools to participate through telephonic interviews. The findings reveal that as educators contended with the new rotational method of school attendance, challenges of limited teaching time, curriculum coverage, learner absenteeism and the lack of parental support that negatively affected their overall state of psychosocial well-being. This state of well-being was characterised by high stress levels, feelings of hopelessness, anxiety and a lack of accomplishment for educators. Despite these experiences, some educators demonstrated agency and resilience in ensuring that they carried out their core responsibility of teaching, but perceived themselves as requiring psychosocial support. The conclusion reached is that the available support structures provided by the Department of Basic Education appeared to be under-utilised and there was a critical need to introduce and advocate for mental health interventions to support educators emotionally.

This study aims to analyze the graphical comprehension of 5th and 6th grade students in multigrade rural primary education in Chile. The theoretical framework considers levels of reading and semiotic levels in statistical graphs. A qualitative methodology of descriptive level is followed, using content analysis method for the responses given to a questionnaire by 22 students from five multigrade rural schools. The results show that, overall, students do not encounter difficulties in answering questions at level 1 reading (literal reading), but difficulties gradually increase as the reading level increases. Regarding semiotic levels, difficulties arise in constructing graphs using data distribution (semiotic level 3) and completing a graph with two data distributions (semiotic level 4).

Reading is a basic literacy that plays an important role in the intellectual development of students. Based on various surveys, it was identified that the reading competence of Indonesian students was very low. The research aims was to implement educative comics based on local folktale and examine its effect on increasing reading literacy of rural primary school students. The research is a quasi-experimental design with pre-test-post-test non-equivalent control group design. The participants were 3rd grade elementary school students in rural Karanganyar Regency, Central Java, Indonesia. Sampling was done by purposive sampling and cluster random sampling technique. There were 58 students in the experimental group and 56 students in the control group from 2 different elementary schools, but their qualifications were both in the good category. In learning to read, the experimental group used educational comic books containing local folktales while the control group used texts containing local folktale. Reading literacy competency data was obtained through paper and pencil tests. The data obtained were analysed descriptively and inferentially using t-test. The results of the study prove that there is a significant effect of educational comics based on local folktale on students' reading literacy competence. Local folktale supported by images is suspected to facilitate the availability of context so that the substance of the text is easier to understand. Therefore, teachers are advised to use image support in learning to cover learning losses due to the pandemic, especially in rural schools which experience many obstacles in distance learning.

The purposes of this study were (1) to examine the components and indicators for promoting the professional development abilities of psychology teachers in rural primary schools within Guangxi Province; (2) to investigate the current state, the desirable state, and the necessity for promoting professional development abilities among psychology teachers in rural primary schools within Guangxi Province; and (3) to explore guidelines for the development of professional development abilities among psychology teachers in rural primary schools within Guangxi Province. The study utilized a multi-stage sampling method to select a sample group of 169 participants. The study was divided into 3 steps: Step 1 involved a study of the components and indicators, evaluated by 9 qualified individuals. Step 2 entailed an examination of the current and desirable state, and Step 3 focused on studying guidelines for developing the technological leadership qualities of teachers, with data provided by 8 participants. The research instruments used for data collection included questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and assessments. The statistical methods used for data analysis include mean, standard deviation, and the analysis of necessary requirements (PNI[subscript modified]). The research findings exhibited that 1. the components and indicators of the technological leadership qualities of teachers in educational management comprised 4 components with 40 indicators, namely: (1) Professional knowledge with 4 indicators, (2) Professional ability with 4 indicators, (3) Professional affection with 4 indicators, and (4) Professional autonomy with 2 indicators. These are highly appropriate, accurate, and feasible overall and individually, to the highest extent. 2. The necessary requirements for the professional development of psychology teachers indicated the necessity for development in every component, considering the development needs as follows: (1) Professional knowledge, (2) Professional ability, (3) Professional affection, and (4) Professional autonomy, respectively. 3. Guidelines for the ability development of psychology teachers in rural primary schools in Guangxi Province revealed a total of 14 development guidelines. Overall, the assessment of these guidelines for the ability development of psychology teachers in rural primary schools indicated a high level of suitability and feasibility, with the highest level of feasibility.

State legislation serves as a guide and critical influence on the evaluation and identification of students with dyslexia across the United States. The state of Texas has numerous laws and regulations concerning dyslexia, guided by the Texas Administrative Code, Texas Education Code, Texas Occupations Code, and the Texas Education Agency's dyslexia handbook (National Center on Improving Literacy [NCIL], 2021). This article is an analysis of publicly available statewide data to assess the impact federal and state legislative policies have had on the prevalence rate of students with dyslexia in 839 urban and rural school districts in Texas. 839 school districts from the 2016-2017 to 2022-2023 school years were extracted from the Texas Education Agency's Public Education Information Management System. Researchers focused on the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Corrective Action to the TEA (OSEP, 2018), the TEA state dyslexia handbook revisions (TEA, 2021), and the unique prevalence of rural school districts in Texas (Simmons et al., 2021). Analysis focused on implications for dyslexia evaluation and identification practices for school districts and evaluators within the state.

There was a period in U.S. history when Black teachers were heavily employed within the educational workforce and were leading examples of excellence (Anderson, 1988). Black teachers, teaching within their communities, were able to directly impact their students' achievement and behavior while also reinforcing shared family values. As a result of the ramifications of implementing Brown v. Board of Education and strategies aimed at pushing Black teachers out, there has been a decrease in the presence of Black educators in the United States. This decline caused a ripple effect that is being felt throughout today's classrooms nationwide. Still, this topic requires more recent investigations of the data to determine if Black teacher attrition is current or a phenomenon of the past. This study examined Texas' teacher workforce data from the Texas Education Agency, highlighting the teacher demographics and identifying if there was an increase or decrease in Black teachers between 2011 and 2017. From the descriptive analysis, the researchers found that for most campuses based on urbanicity types, there was an increase in the average number of Black female and male teachers on campuses. Although racial congruency between the number of Black students and teachers appears to still be in the distant future, notably, campuses across Texas have implemented measures to draw Black teachers to their campuses.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges faced by SMTs in dealing with poor academic performance in the Mopani-West District of Limpopo Province, South Africa. Studies have indicated that schools in rural areas fail to meet their full potential due to a combination of factors including insufficient instructional resources, shortage of qualified educators, insufficient infrastructure, and poverty and inequality. The study adopted a qualitative approach following an interpretative case study design. Using purposive sampling a total of 18 participants, comprising six principals, six departmental heads, and six learners who met the research criteria were selected. The study sample included one principal, one departmental head, and one learner from each of these six schools in the Mopani-West District. Three schools from the sample were identified as high-performing, while the other three were identified as underperforming. Data were elicited using semi-structured interviews, followed by thematic data analysis to unveil rich narratives and patterns within the research inquiries. The findings of the study revealed that resource scarcity in schools significantly hampered the quality of education. Issues such as insufficient teaching materials, a shortage of teachers, and the absence of technology create stark disparities between less and more privileged schools. The study also highlighted the impact of inadequate infrastructure on learning as one of the pressing concerns that compromise quality teaching and learning. Recommendations were made accordingly.

An incongruence exists between the growing job opportunities in rural areas and the educational opportunities provided to rural students, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Positive change is possible, however. As one means to tackle this complex issue, this study sought to understand the perceptions and experiences of students who graduated from rural high schools and pursued STEM majors in college as exemplars of rural students who pursued postsecondary education in STEM disciplines. This phenomenological study explored how college students in STEM majors perceived their rural schools and communities as influencing their academic journeys. Rather than focusing only on deficits and inequities associated with rurality, this study employed the rural cultural wealth (RCW) framework to highlight the agency and capital rural students employed within their journeys. Qualitative data analysis revealed that participants' comments about their rural schools and communities were diverse. The findings also aligned and extended current literature and the RCW framework. These insights into these STEM students' rural backgrounds and academic journeys were then used to create recommendations for future P-20 educational research, practices, and policies.

This cluster-randomized pre-post study examined the effectiveness of Character Playbook, a digitally delivered, universal social-emotional learning (SEL) program, in enhancing social and emotional knowledge and confidence among rural middle school students. Pre- and post-assessments and surveys measured students' knowledge and self-reported confidence related to social and emotional skills. The sample consisted of 128 students from two rural middle schools. Analyses of covariance with multiple imputations to account for missing data revealed that students who participated in Character Playbook demonstrated significantly higher knowledge and more positive confidence toward their social and emotional learning competency than the control group. These findings, with acknowledged limitations, suggest that Character Playbook holds promise as an effective SEL program for rural middle school students, but further research is needed for confirmation. The study provides valuable preliminary insights into how a brief, digitally delivered, universal SEL program could benefit students in rural classrooms.

As roughly 7.3 million students in rural school districts head back to school this fall, they remain largely unaware that the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) is due to expire on September 30, 2024 (Hartman et al., 2023). Enacted on December 20, 2018, and temporarily renewed in September 2023, this critical piece of legislation consistently has offered robust support to rural communities through various safety net measures, farm loans, conservation initiatives, and disaster assistance programs. As the September 30, 2024, deadline nears, people in rural communities should take action to push for the renewal of the Farm Bill and stay informed about possible changes. Although the Farm Bill is already a year overdue, this situation is a chance for involvement and advocacy, highlighting the urgent need for swift action from the U.S. Senate.

Although teacher recruitment and retention are widespread challenges in education, rural and urban counties in Nevada often feel particularly challenged. Within the research conducted, a common theme was uncovered as to why this challenge may be the case. Consistently and unprompted, inservice and preservice teachers mention their perceptions of the violence that occurs in rural and urban schools and communities.

Through the lens of transformative learning theory, this qualitative study examines how pre-service teachers (PSTs) in a teacher education program in rural Appalachia shared their perspectives on their preparation to work with diverse students. It examines how their lived experiences and their teacher education program impacted their approach to understanding and addressing diverse needs of their students. Results illustrate the unique way the pre-service teachers [re]imagined their program to better equip future PSTs for diverse classrooms. We argue for programmatic approaches to developing a teaching corps prepared for diversity in the classroom and challenging the shortsighted notion that students in rural Appalachia are unwilling to face the realities of diverse classrooms.

The degree to which international immersion programs affect participants can be influenced by and attributed to their experiences in the host country or community. Embedded critical experiences allow participants to immerse themselves within the breadth and depth of humanity, thus fostering connections and relationships. Further, critical experiences can heighten emotions and disrupt values discourse. A mini-ethnographic case study of 20 Australian pre-service teachers' immersion in Kenya explored the impact of embedded critical experiences on participants' values, emotions, and relationships. Analysis of participants' journals, researcher's field notes and recorded debrief sessions identified key themes: emotions are heightened; values are questioned; relationships build community through positive connections; and relationships and understanding are at the core of teaching. Embedded critical experiences allowed for points of comparison across the data, which illustrated that while the participants valued the immersion for many reasons, the cultural interface of those experiences had the most significant impact.

Background: A safe and inclusive indoor learning environment reflects different ways of knowing, actuality and thinking. In the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) context, indoor learning areas influence the exploration of teaching and learning activities. Aim: This article explored rural ECCE teachers' experiences of creating indoor learning areas as required by the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for children from birth to 4 years. Setting: Six purposively selected teachers from the three rural ECCE centres in KwaZulu-Natal province that transitioned to using the NCF participated in the study. Methods: A qualitative case study located within the interpretive paradigm was employed. Data that were inductively analysed were collected through semi-structured interviews with two teachers in each of the three centres. Transformative learning theory underpinned the study. Results: The study found that six teachers who desired to learn from each other engaged in a collaborative learning venture within their centres and complied with the NCF to create indoor learning areas in the interest of young children. Conclusion: The study argues that teachers shifted their insights from the challenges to achieving the objectives of the NCF. Thus, it questioned the assumption that rural teachers lack the knowledge to design learning areas. Contribution: Rural ECCE teachers are committed to learning for the development of young children.

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate students' perceptions of their personal and social responsibility skills during and following an eight-week physical activity (PA) afterschool program (ASP) focused on social-emotional learning (SEL) competencies. Specifically, student knowledge of SEL competencies and general PA attitudes were evaluated in a pre- and post-program design. Session specific focus groups after each session were also collected. Elementary students (N = 134; "Mage" = 9.87) from five elementary school programs participated in the study. Quantitative results showed that significant increases in students perceived personal and social responsibility skills increased. In addition, positive attitudes toward PA increased while negative attitudes decreased across the program. Qualitative findings revealed four general themes: (a) knowledge of skills preluded application; (b) self-consciousness of competencies increased; (c) COVID restrictions resulted in surface-level communication/relationships; and (d) peer relationships lacked depth. Student progress in their awareness and knowledge of SEL skills increased in the program. Additionally, evidence to slight decrease in survey responses is reflective of a phenomenon in that students have an inflated sense of SEL competencies at first, but following training they have a more honest and knowledgeable reflection of them. Awareness of SEL skills and abilities would found to happen before action in the authentic setting. It appears that frameworks like the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model can be effective in structure afterschool programs to improve awareness in short-term programming.

This paper investigates the cognitive processes involved in English word recognition among young EFL learners using eye-tracking methodology. A quasi-experimental mixed method design was used to investigate how young L2 learners engage with basic words, with or without pictorial cues. A total of seventeen 6th-grade pupils from two schools participated in the experiment. The participants were presented with a list of 20 words and were asked to read them aloud while their eye movements were tracked to discern their viewing patterns. Immediately after the reading task, stimulated-recall interviews were conducted to triangulate and validate the participants' viewing behaviors. Results indicate that participants focused significantly more on the text than the accompanying pictures yet demonstrated better performance in recognizing and reading the words presented in a picture-based mode. Some participants reported that the pictures were not viewed because the words were easy to read. In contrast, others struggled to read certain words due to an over-reliance on their background knowledge, which sometimes led to misinterpretation. These results emphasize the importance of integrating visual cues with word recognition instruction in early language learning contexts, highlighting when and how these cues should be utilized effectively.

Developing Allied Health (AH) graduates who are skilled in responding to public health needs is crucial, particularly in rural areas where workforce shortages and poor health outcomes are common. However, workforce shortages make it difficult to provide rural work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities to teach these skills. This paper presents a model of Service-Learning (SL) that innovatively employs WIL for AH students while addressing rural health needs. The model was developed based on the experiences of a rural WIL team who implemented over 400 SL WIL experiences over six years. Key aspects highlight the importance of relationship building and meeting the needs of three key stakeholders, namely the community and host-site, students, and the enrolled university. Student support, interprofessional education and evaluation were also embedded in the model. This SL model adopts a flexible approach and provides a useful guide for developing SL for WIL despite challenges in rural areas.

This study examines how information and communication technology (ICT) impacts the schooling environment within the primary sector in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province's Amathole East District. ICT adoption in education can fully modify the ways that instruction and learning are given to students, but it also comes with obstacles, especially in the rural primary schools in the Amathole East District. This research intends to shed light on the current ICT status adoption of Amathole East District's primary schools. Three primary schools were chosen, and three research participants from each school were chosen using the purposive sample technique. Data were gathered through focus groups and in-person interviews. The acquired data were analyzed and presented using a thematic approach. It was revealed as the findings that while teachers were willing to embrace ICTs into teaching and learning and had a good attitude toward technology adoption, they needed the necessary ICT competencies. Furthermore, several challenges and barriers were identified, and these included inadequate ICT infrastructure, a shortage of teacher training in technology integration and a lack of access to ICT tools. The study concludes that teacher training programs be expanded, invest in infrastructure development, and develop a comprehensive ICT policy framework. Taking the research's findings into account, the research offers practical recommendations in enhancing ICT adoption, investing in infrastructure development, expanding teacher development opportunities, to formulating a comprehensive ICT strategy framework so that schools are ready to run virtually in the event of another pandemic related to COVID-19.

This paper explored the factors influencing the leadership strategies of school principals in rural primary schools regarding the integration of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the process of teaching and learning in their schools. School principals are responsible for ensuring that there is ICTs integration in their schools' teaching and learning processes. Embedded within the theory of learning-centred leadership (LCL), school principals have a responsibility to lead, foster, manage, and support the learning process for teachers and learners in their schools. Thus, school principals need to be well acquainted with innovative technologies for teaching and learning amidst the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), which is global, complex, and fast-paced, to lead learning through ICT integration. Underpinned by the interpretive qualitative approach and using a multiple case study as a research design, this study generated data from three selected South African rural primary schools through face-to-face interviews with the three school principals. Data were analysed thematically. Findings revealed that school principals' leadership strategies are influenced by their attitudes towards ICT integration into teaching and learning, their exposure to ICT workshops, and their own judgements of their abilities in using ICT. The paper recommends customised in-service training for school principals and teachers to alter and improve their exposure to, attitudes, perceptions toward ICT integration in teaching and learning.

The United States is experiencing a teacher shortage crisis that is even more pronounced in rural communities. Teachers may be driven away from the profession if they feel inadequately trained or under-supported to address students' mental health needs. As such, an important teacher retention strategy is to ensure schools have enough mental health professionals. The goal of this study was to explore three different yet complementary strategies to recruit and retain a robust rural school mental health workforce: a rural immersion program for graduate students enrolled in counseling and school psychology programs, a virtual professional development series for existing rural school mental health professionals, and a workforce hiring strategy. Each strategy showed promise: six out of seven students stated they were more inclined to work in a rural setting as a result of the immersion, self-efficacy and job satisfaction significantly increased for rural school mental health professionals participating in the virtual professional development, and important recruitment strategies were identified by rural school leaders. While there is reason for optimism when it comes to creating a robust rural school mental health workforce, funds are urgently needed to make these strategies available to rural communities across the country.

Rural school principals in Tennessee face serious challenges in leading their schools, including isolation, high turnover, and a lack of instructional leadership skills. Facilitated by a state university, the Tennessee Rural Principals Network (TRPN) was developed to provide professional learning opportunities for rural school principals. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of principals in rural schools who participated in the TRPN during the years 2019-2021 (n = 133). The study used a basic qualitative research design with semi-structured interviews of 12 participants. Through our data analysis, key learning strengths and challenges were identified and organized under the codes of learning needs, coaching, mentoring, and networking. From these categories, we developed three themes: (a) sharing and collaborating through networks; (b) building capacity through mentoring and coaching; and (c) addressing the learning needs of principals in a rural context. Findings revealed that principals were pleased with the network and felt it helped them better navigate their roles as rural principals by providing the tools to develop best practices and a network to share ideas and resources.

This promising practice describes a statewide effort to address the surging youth mental health crisis through the provision of Youth Mental Health First Aid training in West Virginia public schools. Youth Mental Health First Aid is an evidence-based training for adults who work with youth. This interactive training increases participants' awareness of signs and symptoms of mental health challenges, adolescent development, the prevalence of mental health challenges among youth, and the steps they should take to ensure students with mental health challenges receive timely referral to mental health professionals. Survey data and participant testimonials indicate that this intervention has been highly effective in rural schools in West Virginia. In this article, we describe our work and offer implications for rural schools.

This qualitative case study explores the perceptions of school leadership that future school counselors have regarding leadership roles for women in rural Appalachia. Using a feminist-geographical lens, several cultural, economic, geographic, and identity-based themes were found. Participants' definitions of ideal school leadership included strong community collaboration, advocacy, and leading by example. Some aspects of participants' rural hometowns supported these ideals, such as a community culture offering high levels of cohesion and familial support, leading to them wanting to live there again. However, other characteristics of the community culture, such as being closed to change, sexism against women in leadership, and a lack of women role models, were perceived barriers. In addition, participants' leadership identity was nascent and context based. These factors, combined with poor perceptions of schools in the community, led to participants not to want to live and work in their hometowns. Overall, these participants appear to experience a complex push and pull between pursuing their careers in educational leadership and their desire to take on school leadership roles in rural communities.

Technology offers pedagogical affordances that can transformteaching and learning in multigrade classrooms to assist in theprocess of teaching and learning. However, it is challenging forteachers to effectively integrate technology into their classrooms,given the complex and dynamic multigrade context. Thetechnological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) model wasa lens through which to explore teachers' experiences in ICTintegration in their multigrade classrooms in selected primaryschools in South Africa. A case study design guided this qualitativestudy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelveteachers thematic analysis was used to analyse data. The findingsrevealed that access to ICT equipment for teachers and studentsis crucial. This study has found that generally, it is difficult forteachers to incorporate technology into their teaching because ofthe caveats, such as the multigrade context and the rural locationwhich presents issues such as lack of basic technologyinfrastructure, limited training on integrating technology inteaching, time, the teaching context, and support from principals.This study recommends that teachers be trained on ICT usage andgiven the support needed to function effectively in theirmultigrade context. For teachers to be digitally connected andensure ICT integration in the teaching and learning process, theyneed to be equipped with relevant knowledge and skills to usetechnology to transform their teaching and create newopportunities for learning.

Nationwide, low numbers of students are entering STEM-related fields. This is especially true for underrepresented populations and students from rural areas where access to STEM enrichment programs is limited. This qualitative study researched the impact of Micro STEM Fests on 1st to 5th grade students and investigated participating teachers' attitudes toward STEM. The Micro STEM Fest kits used for this study include ten engineering and technology challenges. 5th graders studied and practiced these challenges and then led a Micro Stem Fest for 1st to 4th grade students. Survey and interview data were gathered from participating students and teachers in a rural district. Data was analyzed by grade levels and two themes were identified. Firstly, STEM knowledge was built through handling of materials, engaging in the engineering design process, and enjoying the challenge posed by the concept or activity. Secondly, positive attitudes towards STEM were developed because of their participation, evidenced by students' desire for harder challenges, and expressed enjoyment of autonomous creativity with STEM activities. This paper briefly reviews the literature, describes the methodology, defines and discusses the findings, and makes recommendations for future research.

The study examines data from surveys and interviews with teacher candidates and local education mentors at a Midwestern university who were involved in a Grow Your Own program; this article focuses on results for the teacher candidates. Using data based on demographics, financial need, and academic performance, the researchers identified eight educator preparation candidates from under-represented backgrounds. Each teacher candidate was invited to receive an academic scholarship of $1,500 per semester for two terms, fall 2022 and spring 2023, with the understanding each scholarship recipient would be paired with a university mentor and an in-district mentor from one of two rural school districts with close proximity to the Midwest university. Teacher candidates were required to attend introductory meetings, professional learning, and culminating sessions in order to receive and retain the scholarship funds. Researchers sought to understand perceptions on mentoring, financial support, and professional development from the teacher candidates while investigating the impact of mentoring on retention. The qualitative case study included a pre- and post-survey for scholarship recipients. The scholarship recipients also participated in a focus group interview. Findings included the importance of the scholarship funds to the teacher candidates that went beyond financial implications, and being selected to participate made them "feel special." The relationships formed with the university faculty and the local education mentors became a "network" allowing the teacher candidates to feel confident and valued; they became the educators they will continue to rely on throughout their careers. The professional development provided opportunities for participants to see, in real-time, the concepts that were discussed in abstract during their education courses.

Background: Early childhood development (ECD) practitioners are encouraged to implement play pedagogies and their views of play as a pedagogy in rural settings have not been captured widely. They are the main role players in implementing play pedagogies for learners' learning and development. The commitment to play can be traced through theory and ideology in early childhood programmes internationally and in South Africa. Aim: This study explored the views and beliefs of the practitioners about the use of play pedagogy in rural ECD centres. Setting: Six practitioners from three rural primary schools in Limpopo, South Africa, participated in the study. Methods: Semi-structured interviews, document analysis and nonparticipant observation were used to collect data. Results: The participants found integrating play pedagogies when planning their lessons and assessing children's progress challenging. The results showed that ECD practitioners in rural centres lack the skills and material resources to implement play pedagogies. Conclusion: The study suggests that ECD practitioners in rural areas need professional development opportunities in the implementation of play activities as a teaching pedagogy. Contribution: These findings can be used to assist ECD practitioners in rural areas in implementing play pedagogies. Educators could use low-cost, locally available materials such as natural resources, recycled materials or everyday objects to create play-based activities that could involve indigenous songs and games relevant to the children's cultural and social context. They could collaborate with parents and community members to develop and implement play-based activities, leveraging the knowledge and skills of the local community.

Background: Motor development of many children in rural areas of South Africa is compromised because of various socio-economic factors, hence, the need to address these developmental needs. Aim: To examine the immediate and sustainable effects of a 9-week movement programme on fundamental movement skills (FMS) of school children. Setting: Seven to eight years old school children in Raymond Mhlaba Municipality, Eastern Cape province. Methods: A two-group, pre-post-re-test research design was used. Fundamental movement skills (FMS) proficiency was assessed using the Test of Gross Motor Development-Third Edition (TGMD-3) at pre-test, post-test and re-test after 6 months. Ninety-three school children (intervention group [IG] = 57) and (control group = 36), with a mean age of 7.12 (± 0.71) participated in the study. The twice-a-week FMS programme of 30 min was conducted during school hours. Statistical analysis included an ANOVA type of hierarchical linear model (HLM) (mixed models) procedure to test for intervention effects with school, time, sex and group as covariants. Cohen's effect size was calculated to assess the practical significance of changes. Results: Immediate and sustainable effects were found on locomotor (p < 0.05; d > 1.7, p < 0.05; d > 2.0), ball skills (p < 0.05; d > 0.7, p < 0.05; d > 1.5) and the gross motor index (GMI) of the IG (p < 0.05; d > 1.0, p < 0.05; d > 2.0). Conclusions: A short-duration FMS intervention significantly improve locomotor, ball skills, and GMI of school children in rural areas. Contributions: Interventions of this nature are encouraged to improve the FMS development of school children, especially in rural areas, as it can enhance the building blocks required in the future development of these children.

This study highlighted the school collaboration and process involved in implementing Tier 1 reading instruction in a rural school in New Mexico and measured the efficacy of this model on student outcomes. Our participants included seven elementary grade teachers, two special educators, one principal, and 106 students in Grades K-6. Our process involved adding more reading time to the schedule, providing teachers with pacing guides and fidelity checklists to maintain teacher accountability with reading instruction, leading biweekly professional learning communities for teachers, and using individually administered curriculum-based measures to track student outcomes in reading. Our results depicted student growth in reading outcomes across elementary grades and a reduction in risk for reading difficulties from the beginning to the end of the school year, which in part could be attributed to our model of Tier 1 reading instruction.

Spanish is the second most spoken language in the United States and the most taught additional language (L2) in elementary-level schools. However, the amount and type of access differs according to the resources available. Rural settings, which comprise a third of all schools in the US, often have fewer resources and support for the development and maintenance of exposure-track L2 programs, which meet once per week with the goal of, as the name suggests, providing exposure to the L2, rather than a focus on cumulative language development. Given that there are immediate and long-term benefits of even low levels of early bilingualism, ensuring access to quality L2 education is a matter of equity. This paper centers on the first year of a longitudinal collaboration between an exposure-track Spanish language teacher in a rural elementary school, and the research team who created a task-based program tailored for the school following a needs analysis. We analyze the first year of the grant-funded program based on task effectiveness, student enjoyment, and teacher perspectives. We contextualize results within the rural community and offer initial longitudinal data on US exposure-track Spanish. We detail how we adjusted the program for the second year, are freely sharing the materials on the Task Bank (tblt.indiana.edu) and have transferred the program to the teacher's autonomy. Finally, we highlight that the success of this program was and is due to the collaborative nature of the partnership between the teacher, the researchers, and the administrators.

This study explores the influences of parental socio-economic status on their engagement practices in rural secondary schools in Bangladesh. This study took place in a specific context where the majority of parents lacked literacy and faced financial constraints. This reality hindered their ability to provide adequate support for their children's education. A qualitative case study research has been chosen to carry out the research. The data has been collected using group discussion, semi-structured interviews and observation from five rural secondary schools in Bangladesh. The findings of this study revealed that parental engagement initiatives related to the annual programs of schools resulted in limited practice of one-to-one communication with parents. The lack of parental literacy, poverty, and being the first generation to receive schooling were identified as fundamental factors that hindered regular and overall engagement initiatives. Furthermore, there is limited opportunity for both parents and teachers to actively participate in the schooling system. In this regard, this study emphasized the importance of place and suggested contextually formed initiatives for further improvement of parental engagement.