Rural Learning: Making It Happen

Rural Learning Summit

August 2013

“Rural Learning: Making it Happen”

Country Education Project

cep.org.au

0428171145

PO Box 1255

Wangaratta, VIC, 3676
Patron: Mr Bailieu Myer AC

Introduction

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the Country Education Partnerships’ Rural Learning Summit for 2013.

I am delighted by the diverse representation attending, confident that this will provide a welcome depth of deliberation to the focus areas of discussion.

The ultimate purpose of our work as an organisation is to improve the learning opportunities and outcomes for rural learners, across the spectrum from 0-18+ years.

The key focus of the Summit this year is centred on the topic:

“Rural Learning: Making it Happen”

“… acknowledging the role of rural learning, and identifying the initiatives and services that will ensure rural learning is of high quality into the future.”

This Discussion Paper has been developed to provide us with a framework for our deliberation at the Summit – it encourages us to identify specific initiatives and approaches that could be established to enhance and improve learning within our communities into the future.

I hope that we can reflect on our learnings of past experience; the research and case studies on local autonomy within rural communities, both within Australia and overseas; and through collaborative conversations.

As a result we will seek to identify the positive initiatives that will provide a quality learning approach for our rural communities into the future.

The summit will also provide CEP with information that can be utilized in its discussions with education sectors and governments in relation to the further strengthening and development of a local autonomy approach within rural Victoria.

I encourage all participants involved in the Summit to think positively and creatively about ideas and approaches that will enhance and strengthen the provision of learning from 0-18+ learning within our rural communities.

Thank you for your participation, and I look forward to meeting you during the day.

Wendy Graham

Chair

Background

The Context:

The Country Education Partnership has a long involvement in supporting rural communities of learning and has established strong partnerships with all the education sectors and rural communities in supporting and enhancing learning provision.

Our voice is impartial and non-judgmental - seen primarily as an influence in the shaping of new initiatives that will offer greater opportunity to support rural children and young people in engaging in 21st Century learning practices, and attempt to address the opportunity and learning outcome gaps often identified in reports and research.

Internationally, the policy direction of many countries (including Australia) has been changing in recent times with a growing emphasis on greater autonomy provided to local learning communities.

In 2012, the Victorian government released its framework to enhance the learning outcomes of young people “into the global top tier”. Centred on local responsibility for system improvement underpinned by professional support and an accountably and support framework, the Towards Victoria as a Learning Community reflects the directions taken by education systems in many other countries.

In relation to rural learning provision, there is still a range of specific challenges that we need to work in partnership to address. In summary these include:

(i)  the gap in student learning outcomes between rural young people and their regional/urban peers across the measurement tools currently used by education sectors.

(ii)  the uptake of further education options by rural young people.

(iii)  the difficulty in recruiting and retaining high quality education leaders and educators to rural communities.

(iv)  the leadership capacity required within rural communities where the education leader is also seen as a community leader – the importance of the ongoing operation of the education setting to rural sustainability.

Having said this, there are many attributes which research and discussions highlight as real assets for rural learning communities – often not acknowledged in measurement tools utilized within education. It is these attributes that CEP believes can provide a strong basis for the development of future approaches in enhancing and improving learning within rural communities. Some of those highlighted include:

(i)  higher levels of participation within their community

(ii)  greater levels of resilience

(iii)  the close links that exist between education organisations, community organisations, families, children and young people

(iv)  earlier involvement in areas of responsibility, many requiring young people to take on leadership roles within education organisations and the broader community.

There have been many discussions, forums, reviews and reference groups facilitated in recent times focusing on the provision of learning within rural Victoria. Some of these include:

-  Victorian Government’s Rural Education Reference Group

-  The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development’s Rural and Regional Education Development Plan – currently being developed

-  The State of Victoria’s Children Report

-  The Victorian Auditor General’s Office performance audit into rural students’ access to education - currently underway.

-  CEP’s work in areas such as P-12 Education; Rural School Governance; Education in Rural Communities within Victoria; and Recruitment and Retention of Educators within rural communities.

-  Rural Youth Ambassadors’ ideas on rural education.

The Focus:

This Rural Learning Summit will focus on the exploration, and identification, of approaches and ideas that can be established to enhance the learning for children and young people in rural Victoria.

For the purpose of the deliberations within the Summit, the following guidelines will be utilized in defining a rural community. Such a definition has been centred on the ARIA, and a variety of international definitions of rurality (especially in USA).

-  located at least 1.5 hours drive from Melbourne CBD

-  located at least 15 minutes from a population centre of more than 10,000 people

-  a location of less than 5,000 population in their own right

-  limited, or no, access to public services.

Throughout the Summit, participants will be encouraged to focus on the development of ideas and approaches that will enhance and improve learning outcomes for rural children and young people into the future.

Participants will be encouraged to consider such approaches focusing on the next three to five years.

The Summit will involve workshops considering the three general areas of:

(i)  Define:

What does rural learning within a rural community look like into the future?

(ii)  Develop:

What specific actions/approaches are required to support such learning within rural communities into the future?

(iii)  Promote:

What support is required to ensure that such ideas/approaches are implemented over the next 3 – 5 years?

Summit participants will be expected to explore these three key areas across three specific areas which CEP believe are critical in supporting an enhanced and improved learning provision within rural Victoria:

·  developing collaborative partnership between various education organisations, and between education organisations and the broader community in the development and provision of learning through a locally determined, whole of community, 0-18+ years approach.

·  building the capacity of rural communities in providing high quality contemporary learning and teaching that embraces the concepts of partnerships and blended learning.

·  building rural leadership capacity that is inclusive of governance, education leadership and education workforce.

Rural Education within Victoria

Within Victoria there are 388 schools (10 Independent; 60 CEO; and 310 DEECD) currently providing learning within rural communities, along with numerous preschools and early learning centres managed by local government, community management committees, health services and a growing number of rural schools. In addition, there are a small number of vocational training facilities (often campuses of regional TAFE Colleges) and Adult and Community Education Centres within these communities.

Rural Victoria has changed over recent times. In many communities within rural Victoria, in particular the west and north west regions, communities are facing difficult challenges as a result of population decline; while a number of communities along the Murray River and within a couple of hours of Melbourne CBD are experiencing a population growth; while the “seaside drift” is having a demographic impact on a number of communities located along the coast.

Within these broader changes, many rural communities are seeing changes to the agricultural industries; the consolidation of services and industries to regional centres; people relocating to access cheaper housing; greater number of multi cultural populations moving to a number of rural communities; as well as the impact of recent natural phenomena such as drought and bushfires.

Over recent times the provision of education has also changed within rural Victoria.

Rural Schools:

-  The schools comprise:

o  43 Prep to Year 12 Education Settings – a number of these also have pre school and early years services included

o  35 secondary schools

o  310 primary schools

-  There have been 15 rural schools close over recent time and 16 rural primary and secondary schools merged into P-12 education settings.

-  While a number of rural communities have seen decline in student population as a reflection of the general population decline, there are a growing number of rural schools who are reporting that young people within their communities are “bypassing” their local community school and travelling to larger population centres based on the perception that a better education is provided. This is also occurring within the pre school learning area.

Such a trend is is also having an impact on the broader local community, especially in areas of community activities, sporting activities and part time employment within local businesses.

Rural Student Enrolments:

-  Approximately 44,000 young people are enrolled in rural school settings. Over the past five years these enrolments have decreased by approximately 4,500 students.

-  While there is a general view held that enrolments in rural communities are decreasing, over the past five years we have seen 96 rural schools increase their student enrollments.

-  The size of rural schools is summarised:

School Size / Number of Rural Schools
Under 100 students / 247 schools
100 – 200 students / 70 schools
200 – 300 students / 36 schools
300 – 400 students / 19 schools
400 – 500 students / 8 schools
Over 500 students / 8 schools

Key Challenges:

Over the past five years, CEP has undertaken two surveys across rural education communities (one in 2006 and one in 2011) to identify the key challenges and opportunities rural school principals see in relation to learning provision. The following table provides a brief overview of the challenges identified and also provides a picture of the changes that have occurred over this time.

The highlighted points within the 2011 survey indicate the changed areas of challenge identified by the principals.

2006 / 2011
Rural Communities
•  Changing Demographics
•  Drought and Fire
•  Aging population
•  Declining populations
•  Pressure on finances
•  Deferral rates high for further education / •  Changing demographics
•  Declining population across some areas while some areas experiencing increases
•  Drought, Floods and Fires still impacting
•  Limited access to community services
•  Significant increase in mental health issues amongst young people
Rural Industries
•  Number of communities experiencing industry change
Learning Provision
•  Declining enrollments in drought affected communities
•  Decreasing parent involvement
•  Difficulty to provide breadth of learning – especially in specific curriculum areas
•  Post compulsory provision a challenge / •  Need to develop cluster approaches from 0-18+ years
•  Desire to understand contemporary learning approaches within a rural context.
•  Increasing administrivia expectations
•  Decreasing community and parental involvement
•  Decreasing enrolments in some locations
•  Access to engaging and diverse learning programs
•  Increasing challenges of special need students
•  Challenge to provide pre school and early years programs as detailed by the commonwealth guidelines
Workforce
•  Recruitment of Teachers
•  Changing role of principal
•  Aging staff profile / •  Retention of quality teachers
•  Professional development for all education staff and leaders
•  Interest to develop cluster approaches to workforce utilisation
•  Increasing age profile of rural teachers

Key Learnings from Recent Activities and Other Jurisdictions

There has been much interest in rural and remote education recently, not only within Victoria, but in other Australian states and internationally.

From this work, there are a number of common themes that have been identified within them and provide valuable framing for our deliberations at the Rural Learning Summit.

1.  The strong link between Education and Community/Economic Development:

There is a strong suggestion that partnerships formed between education organisations and local rural communities (including business and community agencies) provide the basis for a strong rural education provision.

These partnerships need to occur across education organisations within a local community as well as between education organisations and community/business communities.

Successful approaches support a whole of community, 0-18+ Years Learning approach.

“…the connection between a quality education and a vibrant, sustainable economy has never been clearer.” (Transforming the Rural South)

2.  The clear support for the development of Partnerships at a Local Community level:

Across all the material there is an overwhelming support for the formation and support of alliances/clusters of education organisations in the development and provision of learning.

For the successful development and operation of such clusters/alliances there are three key elements often identified:

(i)  Moral responsibility for the learning of all the children and young people within the community – not just the ones in particular education organizations.

(ii)  Acts of Kindness – building the capacity of all education organisations involved within the cluster/alliance.

(iii)  The provision of a “Contributive Leadership” approach across the cluster/alliance.

3.  The Differing Needs of Rural Learning Communities compared to Regional Communities:

Those highlighted include:

-  access to services, choice and programs is greatly reduced

-  the connection between education and community/economic development is much stronger