Deakin University leads project to meet rural teacher shortage with national curriculum project

Deakin University has won a $218,000 grant from theAustralian Teaching and Learning Council to conduct a national project developing contemporary curricula for teacher education courses. The project, focused on the higher education sector and led by Dr Simone White, aims to develop a forward thinking curriculum that caters for rural education needs. It aims to meet a growing need for well prepared teachers as rural and regional areas face a teacher shortage.

Note for Editors:

Australia faces a national crisis in attracting and retaining teachers and other professionals in rural areas. Teacher education can help to address this crisis in better preparing teachers for rural careers. However current scholarship and research indicates that the majority of universities have no explicit focus on rural education in their teacher education programs. Only random and ad hoc rural practicum opportunities exist with no obvious link to any of the various State-based financial incentives across Australia to encourage teacher graduates to work in rural areas. This project will provide explicit advice and resources related to curriculum renewal to address these issues and assist universities with teacher education programs to make best use of existing and new resources.

The project will be conducted in partnership with Charles Sturt and Edith Cowan universities.