Local rural communities and individuals are increasingly disarmed by the socially transforming processes of post modern times including the globalisation of rural production systems and trade. There is a new climate "in the bush" that is imbued with a deep suspicion that globalisation processes will continue to threaten the…

Approximately four months ago the author was sitting at his desk at the Air Force Academy preparing a course in leadership that he would be teaching during the fall semester. Then, something happened that would have a drastic impact on his professional life as an educator and a military officer. He was informed that he would be deploying to Kabul,…

The author wants to know more about the appreciation of and respect for pluralities, in places where differences in race and ethnic background are rare. Given the lack of regular and even intimate contact with a variety of peoples, what can teachers expect? Further, with the de facto separation of races in many rural area of the United States,…

Young people who live in rural areas are less likely to finish high school and to complete college than their urban and suburban peers. These adolescents are also more likely to use drugs and alcohol: rural adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 have the highest levels of drug use in this age group. Out-of-school-time programs in rural areas…

In Leslie Marmon Silko's 1977 novel "Ceremony" the "primacy of the geographical" has often been interpreted as a particularly holistic and healing sense of place--what the critic Robert M. Nelson has characterized as the "spirit of place." This heightened awareness of the spiritual and redemptive power of the natural and the imaginative in…

The collaboration between the Frontier Nursing Service and the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing provides a way for those with associate degrees in midwifery to obtain a baccalaureate degree in nursing and become eligible for advanced training in midwifery. Distance learning facilitates instruction for the geographically dispersed midwives.…

Vocational teachers in northern Canada are challenged to meet the unique needs of their students who are physically isolated; who must cope with harsh climate; who live in small communities; and who face an almost unbridgeable cultural gap. Teachers are challenged to prepare students for limited local employment or for life without a job. (JOW)

Describes the challenges and joys of teaching English at Oak Hill School in the remote rural community of Elmer, Louisiana. (SR)

Nearly every state shortchanges poor and geographically isolated children. It is unpopular to spend on the neediest. Instead of fully funding Title 1 and The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Congress and President Clinton construct new competitive, general grant programs available to middle-class communities. (MLH)

Preparations for a Canadian exhibit in a Paris museum prompted reflections on how the adversity encountered in Canada's northern wilderness has fostered Inuit inventiveness and creativity. Anecdotes of other people's adaptations to harsh conditions illustrate that inventiveness is universal to the human condition. Perhaps the best example of…

Wales must overcome political, social, economic, and cultural exclusion in developing a response to European education and training initiatives. Democratic funding and accountability are needed to enable Wales to benefit from the new Europe. (SK)

An Australian "School of the Air" teacher describes his experiences teaching isolated rural students in grades 3 and 4 via radio and teleconferencing. He discusses lesson materials, exceptional student work, "classroom" techniques for delivering Air lessons, home visits, parent involvement, and his own learning experience. (SV)

The phenomenon of globalization argues for a broader world view that makes allowances for cultural diversity. Caribbean states have a history of living and working with people from diverse backgrounds, and could make a contribution to the new perspective through closer engagement with the field of comparative education, which has always stressed…

Teaching science to indigenous students in Australia can be difficult, as some Western science concepts are in direct conflict with their cultural beliefs. Outlines some ways to make science instruction more culturally relevant to primary-aged indigenous students living in remote areas of the Northern Territory. Contains 23 references. (Author/WRM)

Broad assumptions about the impact of the Internet have created a "cult of hype" where the latest technological advancement is seen as the next best thing, and educators have been swept up in the promise of an educational utopia. The hype tells us that the world is joined by the infrastructure of this new technology and that…