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Thesis (DEducation)--University of South Australia, 2012. Includes bibliographical references (p. 278-291) This portfolio describes three research projects. Each project addresses one aspect of a problem of longstanding within the state of South Australia: that of attracting sufficient numbers of qualified teachers to serve regional, rural and remote communities. This problem is not unique to South Australia, and the issue is seen in relation to trends in other states of Australia and overseas. Of particular note is that South Australia represents an example of the city-state phenomenon. Despite covering the geographical area the size of France, Germany and Scotland combined, the only substantial metropolitan centre is that of Adelaide. The only teacher education facilities are located in that city. At the time of writing, all South Australian trained teachers have had to be domiciled in Adelaide for a four year training period. This has contributed substantially to the problem of staffing the country school particularly at the secondary level. Although the problem is recognised it has not been addressed through any formal policy-driven agendas. In Project 1 it was found that accurate statistics concerning staffing issues specifically associated with country schooling were not readily available or published. Hence, Project 1 was devoted to outlining the scope and scale of the problem, and accessing data from the South Australian Education Department internal staffing reports between 1998 and 2003. This compilation constitutes the first time such an analysis has been able to be conducted specifically in relation to country school staffing. It was found that 80% of graduating students seek employment within Adelaide. Project 2 consisted of two surveys of teacher education students within Adelaide. In the first survey students identified both positive and negative features of teaching and living in the country. For many individuals, the negative factors outweighed the positive factors. In the second survey it was found that students who exhibited metrocentricity |
