How hard can it be? The relative job demands of rural, regional and remote Australian educational leaders

Abstract

The demands placed upon employees in their roles have long been thought to be important in predicting employee well-being and in reducing the risk of anxiety and depression, increasing cardiovascular functioning and reducing employee burnout. The present study sought to examine the job demands of rural, regional and remote educational leaders. Demand ratings were generally lower for regional areas than rural areas and lower for rural areas than remote areas. Higher qualifications and experience were associated with lower demand ratings. Participants in desired areas rated themselves under lower demand than participants in undesired areas and participants who were undecided about the desirability of their locations. These findings have important implications for the selection, preparation and support of leaders in non-metropolitan contexts.

Revisiting the schoolhouse: A literature review on staffing rural, remote and isolated schools in Australia 2004-2016

“…Since 2004 there have been a number of major national research studies focusing on different aspects of rural staffing. These include the R[T]EP rural teacher education and rural schooling project (Green, 2008), the TERRANova project that explored teacher education for rural areas , the RRRTEC rural teacher preparation project (White, 2011;White & Kline, 2012b), the SiMERR study into the needs of science, ICT and mathematics teachers in rural areas (Lyons, Cooksey, Panizzon, Parnell, & Pegg, 2006), the Rural Education Forum Australia's (REFA) project exploring pre-service teacher practicums (Halsey, 2005), the Bush Tracks teaching transitions project (McConaghy et al, 2006;, rural school leadership projects such as the various works of Drummond & Halsey, (2013;Halsey, 2015;Halsey, Drummond & Van Breda, 2011) and Clarke, Stevens, & Wildy (2006;Clarke & Wildy, 2004;Wildy & Clarke, 2005; and projects focusing on the quality of pre-service teacher education (Trinidad, Sharplin, Lock, Ledger, Boyd, & Terry, 2011). There have also been a number of small scale research projects in relation to the experiences of new graduates teaching in rural schools, the experiences of new rural teachers, rural practicums and rural visit programs, resources to better prepare teachers at a pre-service level, mentoring of new graduates & preservice teachers, and rural school leadership.…”

“…Some felt it was appropriate while others felt the responsibilities and stress were too much (Miller et al, 2006). More experience in rural schools reduced the difficulty leaders experienced attracting and retaining staff (Drummond & Halsey, 2013;Halsey et al, 2011;Sayce & Lavery, 2013), their difficulty with school-community leadership , and correlated with an increase in enrolments (Halsey et al, 2011). In terms of demand, leaders in more remote schools experienced more demands on their time, while leaders with higher qualifications, leaders with more years of experience, and more years of experience in a rural school, experienced less demands in their role (Drummond & Halsey, 2013).…”

“…More experience in rural schools reduced the difficulty leaders experienced attracting and retaining staff (Drummond & Halsey, 2013;Halsey et al, 2011;Sayce & Lavery, 2013), their difficulty with school-community leadership , and correlated with an increase in enrolments (Halsey et al, 2011). In terms of demand, leaders in more remote schools experienced more demands on their time, while leaders with higher qualifications, leaders with more years of experience, and more years of experience in a rural school, experienced less demands in their role (Drummond & Halsey, 2013). With these factors in mind, school leaders need to be better prepared for the demands they will face (Drummond & Halsey, 2013) and qualifications and location need to be considered when preparing staff for leadership positions (Halsey et al, 2011).…”

“…In terms of demand, leaders in more remote schools experienced more demands on their time, while leaders with higher qualifications, leaders with more years of experience, and more years of experience in a rural school, experienced less demands in their role (Drummond & Halsey, 2013). With these factors in mind, school leaders need to be better prepared for the demands they will face (Drummond & Halsey, 2013) and qualifications and location need to be considered when preparing staff for leadership positions (Halsey et al, 2011).…”

Occupational (In)visibility: The emerging role of the Remote Education Tutor as an educational conduit

“…Contemporary research has explored the rural perspectives of the varying aspects of education, as an endeavour to connect rurality to the broader educational field (Fuqua & Roberts, 2021 ; Fuqua et al, 2021 ). Whilst the distinctiveness of education in rural places is recognised, there is a similarity across the challenges that include several related issues: teacher shortages and staff incentivisation in rural schools (Burke & Buchanan, 2022 ); attracting and retaining teachers in rural and remote settings (Kelly & Fogarty, 2015 ; Roberts, 2004 ); expectations and quality of work life in rural and remote teaching (Sharplin, 2002 , 2009 ); rural placement and teacher education (Kline et al, 2013 ; White & Reid, 2008 ); professional development for rural teachers (Broadley, 2010 ); and leadership in rural schools (Drummond & Halsey, 2013 ). Within the broader discourse of Australian rural education, it has been noted by some that disadvantage exists in regional and rural schools (Lamb et al, 2014 ), and that this extends to the students’ experiences of inequality related to educational opportunities (Sullivan et al, 2018 ).…”