This study examines pre-service teachers (PSTs) from two Australian universities regarding their involvement in rural professional experience (PE) placements and their potential impact on future career choices. The objective was to gain insight into the diverse teaching and learning experiences PSTs had during their rural PE, and what impact these…

Attracting high quality teachers to regional, rural, and remote locations has been an issue for school communities in Australia. Research has illustrated that innovative initiatives and experiences can change pre-service teachers' attitudes, perspectives and perceptions about regional, rural and remote schools. What is less understood is the…

This ethnographic case study investigates the professional, locational and cultural understandings teachers need when beginning regional, rural, and remote teaching and living. Drawing from the experiences of recently graduated early career teachers in regional, rural, and remote teaching positions, the study sought to identify key learnings and…

Set within the broader employment crisis facing Australian schools, attracting preservice teachers to teach in a regional, rural, and remote (RRR) school community has been a long-standing educational priority. Research has identified the role of placement initiatives, the benefits of preparing preservice teachers for RRR contexts, and the…

Encouraging pre-service teachers to perceive early childhood teaching as an inherently attractive career option remains an issue in the early childhood profession in Australia. Following a Research by Design methodology with iterative modifications, this paper uses a professional identity theoretical lens to analyse survey and interview data from…

The crisis of teacher shortages in Anglophone nation states can no longer be ignored as this long-term issue has been compounded by the pandemic. Growing evidence of the challenges of attracting and retaining a teaching workforce is now foregrounded in education policy internationally. This issue provides increased impetus for studying teacher…

Within an ever-increasing time of globalisation, globalised learning and international mobility, international professional experience can provide a range of opportunities for personal and academic growth. Perhaps unsurprisingly, pre-service teachers commonly attest to the positive impact of international placements. What is less well understood…

This research examines the consequences of a mandatory assessment for pre-service teachers in Australia that is completed during their final teaching placement. The Teaching Performance Assessment (TPA) is an analysis of practice that incorporates video of teaching episodes, observation feedback, and analysis of pupils' work samples.…

This paper reports on part of a longitudinal project investigating the formation of preservice secondary mathematics teachers' identities at one Australian university. Given that school-based placement experiences impact teacher identity development, the Flourishing Mathematics Teacher (FMT) project focuses on this experience and aims to identify…

Initial teacher education programs in Australia require all preservice teachers to complete a mandated teaching performance assessment. This places significant performative pressure on preservice teachers undertaking their final teaching placement. This paper reports on an action research project that aimed to co-construct a series of workshops…

Professional experience is crucial in initial teacher education, enabling pre-service teachers to develop their skills in authentic classroom settings. However, with most Australian initial teacher education institutions located in metropolitan areas, few pre-service teachers undertake experiences in regional, rural or remote (RRR) schools,…

Compared to their more experienced colleagues, novice teachers are more likely to experience burn-out and leave the profession. They are also more likely to be assigned out-of-field. This paper shines a light on the emotional and cognitive nature of what is involved for these teachers as they learn to teach out-of-field. Fortune lines technique…

Purpose: Mentor-mentee relationships are important for individual wellbeing, mental health, professional agency and confidence. In the context of an initial teacher education (ITE) programme, these relationships become a key factor. Pre-service teachers' capacity to cope on a professional placement is closely linked to the quality of the mentoring…

The last Australian government review on rural education reveals that staffing schools continues to be a challenge. To examine this problem, the paper draws on data from semi-structured interviews with pre-service teachers undertaking rural school placement. The aim is to address rural school staffing through a bi-dimensional social justice…

The difficulty of staffing rural and remote schools has become a global phenomenon. Educational agencies in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries have addressed this issue by developing and implementing creative recruitment models. While many studies have documented reasons why teachers decide to work in rural and…