This article extends a framework for the study of culture-cognition relations to problems of historical research and diachronic analysis. As an illustrative case, we focus on mathematics in Oksapmin communities located in a remote highland area in central New Guinea. The Oksapmin, like their neighboring Mountain-Ok groups to the West,…

This article outlines certain problems and challenges facing the qualitative researcher who enters fields that are either extremely difficult to access or potentially hostile towards outsiders. Problems and dilemmas in such contexts are highlighted by reference to fieldwork research among PKK (Kurdistan Worker's Party) guerrillas in North…

Australia has a long history of what has been pilloried as "cultural cringe", and of bemoaning its isolation from "overseas" developments. In recent years, the valuing of ideas and practices from elsewhere has been transformed under the rubric of "world best practice" within a global economy and culture, both in…

Outmigration in the rural Upper Midwest prompted a group of citizens and University of South Dakota faculty to form the Center for the Advancement of Rural Communities (ARC). ARC considers how to stimulate traditionally competitive and isolated South Dakota peoples to collaborate for economic, social, educational, political, and cultural gains. As…

In 1997-98, parents and students at 1,300 elementary and secondary public schools in Queensland (Australia) were surveyed to measure their satisfaction with their school. Some 38,000 parents and 43,000 secondary students responded to the survey. Results indicate that for parents, there was a conflict between remoteness/isolation and school…

This theme issue of "State Education Leader" contains eight articles on rural education. "The Rural Bellwether" (Kathy Christie) discusses declining enrollment in rural schools, rural problems with teacher shortages and special education funding, issues related to school size and school district size, and distance learning…

This paper provides background information on the nature of rural communities and examines factors that influence educational services for students with visual impairments in these communities. Characteristics that are most often mentioned in defining rural areas are lack of public transportation, distance from a metropolitan area, size of nearest…

This paper's findings advocate looking beyond cultural discontinuity for an explanation of communication failure between American Indian parents and school personnel. Through "gatekeeping," American Indian parents mediate the communications dilemma wrought by conditions of distrust, racial tension, maintenance of tribal identity,…

A training and teaching tools development project aims to help multigrade classroom teachers in remote areas of Ontario. The project presents multiple instructional strategies, such as collaborative learning, differentiated teaching, and subject integration. Sixty teaching activities, created and tested by teachers, are contained on a CD that will…

The Indigenous Education and Training Alliance (IETA) is a staff college of Education Queensland (Australia), which brokers and delivers teacher professional development around state policies on Indigenous education. IETA's work to support policy on literacy education and English language learning for Indigenous students focuses on development of…

An 8-year study examined the experiences of 23 rural families in the Early Intervention Early Childhood process. Findings indicated a lack of prenatal care and limited access to medical care, specialists, and local doctors due to geographic isolation and shortages of service personnel. Recommendations for improving rural service delivery are…

Interviews and focus groups with 50 professionals and 7 parents of children with special needs examined challenges faced by families and early intervention professionals in rural East Texas. Challenges identified by families included transportation, housing, access to medical care, and feelings of isolation. Professionals identified the lack of…

A clinical experience program provided 29 rural Australian allied health professionals with experience in pediatric clinical areas and opportunities to share clinical knowledge and develop networks with metropolitan peers. Questionnaires and focus groups indicated that networking, clinical skills, knowledge, confidence, and awareness of rural…

The Isolated Schools' Project offers final-year preservice teachers the opportunity to experience teaching in a nonevaluated situation in a rural or remote part of Queensland (Australia). Two student teachers describe their three-week experiences in isolated one-room schools. (SV)

The experiences of two teachers describe how BreadNet, an online professional-development and educational conference, enables teachers with similar interests to work together and maintain a sense of community. BreadNet allowed their rural schools to participate in projects with distant schools, leading to improvements in the quantity and quality…