Rural professional practice

While preparation for professional practice is conceived as placeless, it is always enacted in place. Consequently, many professionals find themselves working in conditions significantly different than those they were educated in and for. This is especially relevant for new professionals arriving in rural settings after preparation in urban programs, where metrocentric models of orientation to practice are implicitly privileged.

The consequent dis-join between practice and place often results in new professionals feeling ‘out of place’ and questioning their professional competence. It also results in settings outside the metrocentric norm being viewed as less desirable practice contexts. Negative desirability hinders professional recruitment, while feeling out of place and incompetent hinders professional retention; both are longstanding issues in rural communities.

Recent developments in professional education and practice standards emphasise adaptability to practise in specific contexts. However, ‘context’ is presented as a largely static backdrop that needs to be accommodated to engage in the ‘real practice’ one was trained for.

Drawing on the spatial turn in social theory, we argue that place both shapes and is shaped by professionals and their practices and, as such, must be engaged with deeply and dynamically. This conceptualisation of the relationship between place and practice has critical implications for professional preparation. As interdisciplinary practitioners and researchers working in diverse contexts, we examine ‘place’ from a social constructivist perspective as a focal point for professional preparation.

Publications

• Roberts, P., Cosgrave, C., Gillespie, J., Malatzky, C., Hyde, S., Hu, W. C., ... & Downes, N. (2021). ‘Re‐placing’ professional practice. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 29(2), 301-305.
• Downes, N., Roberts, P., & Dean, J. (2021). Researching the schoolhouse: Rethinking research on the staffing of rural, remote and isolated schools in Australia (2000-2019). Available from: https://researchprofiles.canberra.edu.au/en/publications/researching-the-schoolhouse-rethinking-research-on-the-staffing-o
• NSW Department of Education with Societel Consulting. (2021). A Review of rural and remote incentives in NSW public schools’.
• Downes, N., & Roberts, P. (2018). Revisiting the schoolhouse: A literature review on staffing rural, remote and isolated schools in Australia 2004-2016. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 28(1), 31-54.
• Roberts, P., & Downes, N. (2020). The Challenges of Staffing Schools in a Cosmopolitan Nation: Rethinking the recruitment and retention of teachers in Australia through a spatial lens. In T. Ovenden-Hope, & R. Passy (Eds.). Exploring Teacher Recruitment and Retention (pp. 221-230). Routledge.
• Roberts, P. & Downes, N. (2019). The Rural Difference Trope: Leader Perceptions on Rural, Regional and Remote Schooling Difference. Leading & Managing, 25(2), pp. 51-65.
• Downes, N & Roberts, P. (2018). Revisiting the schoolhouse: A literature review on staffing rural, remote and isolated schools in Australia 2004-2016. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 28(1). pp.31-54.
• Roberts, P. (2007). Shaping Future Staffing Systems to Support Students in Rural, Remote and Isolated Communities. Australian College of Educators Online. Refereed Article 46.
• Roberts, P. (2005). Staffing an Empty Schoolhouse: Attracting and retaining teachers in rural, remote and isolated communities. Sydney, NSW. New South Wales Teachers Federation. ISBN 1875699368.

Related Projects

• Workforce motivations and incentives for rural professionals
• Researching the professions
• Rural placements for preservice teachers and health practitioners
• UC widening participation and outreach
• The sociocultural experiences of rural students at university
• Experiences of students entering medical programs through rural pathways
• ARC DECRA: Engaging rural knowledges for sustainable futures: spatial justice and rural schooling
• Higher education career advice for low SES and rural students