14. Communities, Families and Schooling in Educational Research
Paper
Leading Rurally: Principles of Place-Serving Leadership from Beyond the Metropolis
Melyssa Fuqua1, Simone White2, Jayne Downey3
1University of Melbourne, Australia; 2Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Australia; 3Montana State University, USA
Presenting Author: Fuqua, Melyssa;
White, Simone
Internationally, rural education leaders recognise the need to be attentive to their local and global context to lead effectively in and for their ever-changing communities (Brown et al., 2021; Wildy et al., 2014). While issues like the climate crisis, increased migration, and the pandemic are global, they manifest uniquely in every school-community. This paper considers a series of case studies from various contexts, in different types of rural areas, from different education and political systems to develop an adaptable toolkit for rural education leaders to become ‘place-serving leaders’ through these uncertain times.
The paper adds to the international body of knowledge regarding the two fields of ‘rurality’ and ‘educational leadership’. It builds on the field of inquiry into the significance of ‘adding the rural’ (Green, 2013) to all aspects of education, furthering the collective work by education researchers worldwide (Green & Corbett, 2013; Gristy et al.,2020; Roberts & Fuqua, 2021; White & Corbett 2014; White & Downey, 2021) keen to consider the impacts rurality has on aspects of teaching, education, and research. Continuing this work is necessary as it sharpens the understanding of those who live beyond the metropolis, for all.
We have taken an inclusive, collaborative definition of ‘leadership’, coining the term ‘leading rurally’ as an agentive stance to leadership in relation to what it might mean in, for and with rural contexts. To lead rurally is to be a ‘place-serving leader’, one who considers ‘place’ to be an active, equal partner. Considering place as an actor, highlights its many seasons and changing climate (physically, socially, and politically). Recognising place as sociologically, geographically, and politically contested is important for leaders in navigating these spaces; place-serving leaders need to understand and view their roles within these diverse socio-geo-political places.
We explore two contexts (US and Australia) to provide insights for the wider rural education research community. While the US and Australia have differences regarding rural education, there are important similarities impacting what it means to ‘lead rurally’, creating important insights for broader international applicability. Both contexts have experienced population shifts and decline in nonmetropolitan areas shaped by global economic and technological changes, increased population mobility, the globalisation of production, limited rural labour market demand, and aging rural populations (White & Downey, 2021). Demographic changes have serious consequences for the survival of rural schools, for example, as enrolments decline, they face pressure to close or consolidate, and/or they become more culturally diverse (Brown et al., 2021; Deunk & Maslowski, 2020; Gristy et al., 2020; Tieken & Auldridge-Reveles, 2019). Like many countries, the US and Australia have challenges in staffing rural schools and students often experience fewer opportunities for further education and career opportunities (Alexander, 2022; Gristy et al., 2020; White & Downey, 2021). The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of “leading rurally” through the stories of those who engage in this work providing insights, challenges, and innovations for others to consider.
Rural leaders are witnessing and learning to navigate the increasing political and ideological divides occurring in rural contexts. As tensions are played out publicly in hyperlocal places, effective leaders need to be able to hold such tensions and listen to diverse perspectives, honouring different views and ways of being. Working collectively across many alliances and considering insider-outsider positionality are some of the strategies discussed to overcome such tensions. While the stories are American and Australian, we contend that the insights and strategies proposed are useful worldwide since they are shaped by their local versions of global challenges faced in many contexts – which are well-documented and pervasive internationally (Gristy et al., 2020; White & Downey, 2021).
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThis paper draws upon the concluding chapter to a forthcoming edited book ‘Sharing Leadership Stories in Rural Education: Leading Rurally across Australia and the United States’. It offers findings from a synthesis of rural education research from leaders who have conceptualised and led a range of rural education initiatives and research. This paper investigates the notion of educational leadership as ‘situated practice’ which is “best conceived as always located somewhere, socially, spatially and historically, and as always speaking from somewhere” (Green & Reid, 2014, p. 255). Data collection involved a deliberate approach to seeking contributing authors, conducting a peer review process, and we undertook a thematic analysis of all contributions to develop our conclusions. We sought out a range of different types of ‘leaders’ in a variety of rural education contexts. These included researchers and practitioners working in communities, schools, research institutions, and teacher education programs. Their stories were set in both centralised and de-centralised education systems. Additionally, First Nation scholars and studies offered deep insights into what leadership is required to understand, lead, and heal historical and generational trauma from colonisation. Authors were asked to share their stories about what ‘leading rurally’ meant to them in terms of leadership in the 21st century, leading schools, leading partnerships, leading in the research community, and/or leading through crises. The stories they chose to share, their interpretations of ‘leadership’ and ‘rurality’, and the strategies and advice they provided revealed the place-focused nature of their work.
After each chapter was peer reviewed for academic rigour and clarity (specifically for readers outside of the author/s’ context) then finalised by authors, we conducted a thematic analysis looking for storylines and shared principles of practice. The storylines that carried across all chapters were: standpoint, collective leadership skills, working ‘out of place’, and adopting an intergenerational approach to leading in rural contexts. These form the foundations of a place-serving rural leader’s toolkit.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe advice to adopt a rural leadership standpoint of partnering ‘with the rural’ as a key principle for practice was rooted in the importance of rural leaders working with the community, acknowledging place ‘as’ the site for learning, to listen and learn from the place. Collective leadership skills are required for leading rurally with leaders needing to adopt a ‘joined-up’ approach in thinking about leading for and with communities. This requires working across various community groups, including Indigenous Elders. Leaders need to work ‘out of place’ which recognises that one’s position on the insider-outsider continuum is not fixed. While this can raise challenges of being an ‘outsider’, it can also bring fresh perspectives and space from hyper-localised issues. Finally, rural leadership demands an intergenerational, spatial approach with opportunities to support and work with the next generation of leaders and those who have come before. To best lead rurally, leaders must be open to new ways of working and thinking that may risk the entrenched social fabric of a place, but may be essential to help saving it.
The uncertainties and challenges facing rural leaders that were uncovered through these stories are not limited to the American and Australian context. Uncertainty stemming from climate change, shifting political tensions, issues of recognition in and of rural places are affecting schools and communities worldwide. The advice for future place-serving leaders derived from the four main storylines can be essentialised as: become a community insider, build local coalitions for equity, engage in productive conflict, engage in positive public relations, and build coalitions that extend beyond your community. While it is easy to despair in these challenging times, the stories generously shared here provoke, encourage, and inspire – pointing the way forward as we seek to lead rurally in the days ahead.
ReferencesAlexander, R. (2022). Spatialising careership: Towards a spatio-relational model of career development. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 44(2), 291–311. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2022.2153647
Brown, M., Altrichter, H., Shiyan, I., Rodríguez Conde, M. J., McNamara, G., Herzog-Punzenberger, B., Vorobyeva, I., Vangrando, V., Gardezi, S., O’Hara, J., Postlbauer, A., Milyaeva, D., Sergeevna, N., Fulterer, S., García, A. G., & Sánchez, L. (2022). Challenges and opportunities for culturally responsive leadership in schools: Evidence from four European countries. Policy Futures in Education, 20(5), 580-607. https://doi.org/10.1177/14782103211040909
Deunk, M., & Maslowski, R. (2020). The role of school boards and school leadership in small schools in the Netherlands. In C. Gristy, L. Hargreaves, & S.R. Kučerová (Eds.), Educational research and schooling in rural Europe: An engagement with changing patterns of education, space and place (pp. 237-257). IAP.
Green, B. (2013). Literacy, rurality, education: A partial mapping. In B. Green & M. Corbett (Eds.). Rethinking rural literacies: Transnational perspectives (pp. 17-34). Palgrave Macmillan.
Green, B., & Corbett, M. (Eds.) (2013). Rethinking rural literacies: Transnational perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan.
Green, B., & Reid, J. (2014). Social cartography and rural education: Researching space(s) and place(s). In S. White & M. Corbett (Eds.), Doing educational research in rural settings: Methodological issues, international perspectives and practical solutions (pp. 26–40). Routledge.
Gristy, C., Hargreaves, L., & Kučerová, S. R. (Eds.) (2020). Educational research and schooling in rural Europe: An engagement with changing patterns of education, space and place. IAP.
Roberts, P., & Fuqua, M. (Eds.). (2021). Ruraling education research: Connections between rurality and the disciplines of educational research. Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0131-6
Tieken, M. C., & Auldridge-Reveles, T. R. (2019). Rethinking the school closure research: School closure as spatial injustice. Review of Educational Research, 89(6), 917-953. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654319877151
Wildy, H., Siguräardóttir, S. M., & Faulkner, R. (2014). Leading the small rural school in Iceland and Australia: Building leadership capacity. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 42, 104-118. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143213513188
White, S. & Corbett, M. (Eds.). (2014). Doing educational research in rural settings: Methodological issues, international perspectives and practical solutions. Routledge.
White, S. & Downey, J. (Eds.). (2021) Rural education across the world: Models of innovative practice and impact. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6116-4
14. Communities, Families and Schooling in Educational Research
Paper
Remodelling and Developing National Leadership Provision During a Time of Uncertainty to Support Future Sustainable Leadership in Small Rural Schools
Morag Redford, Anne Paterson
University of the Highlands and Islands
Presenting Author: Paterson, Anne
Across Europe many small schools have been closed or amalgamated and there has been a move from schools being in local small settlements to larger centres (Ribchester & Edwards, 1999). This movement has been influenced by many sociocultural factors, including the physical geography, historical influences, and characteristics of population (Kucerova, Meyer and Trshorsch,2020) The demand for education is dictated by population size, age structure and demographics (Barakat,2015). This brings uncertainty and issues regarding the sustainability of small rural schools.
Scottish Education has seen similar trends. The 32 Local Authorities in Scotland are responsible for the education pattern in each of their areas. The Local Authorities are required to deliver the services within a financial package, and this has seen greater uncertainty for communities as the pressure on the budgets escalates. Whilst there are statutory legal requirements for school closures within the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 (Scottish Government, 2014) there continues to be uncertainty about the future of small rural schools. Scotland is currently going through a period of review of Education which has also caused a great deal of uncertainty.
In this difficult landscape it is important to understand the pressures for headteachers and leaders of small rural schools. Leadership is crucial. The researchers were involved in delivering a national programme (In Headship) for newly appointed headteachers in rural areas and were keen to ensure that the programme met the needs of small school leaders: to support school leadership during a time of uncertainty and provide hope and sustainability for the future.
Within the Scottish context the importance of landscape, flexibility and sustainability were key to ensuring the development of the national programme for rural school leaders enabled “people to live well and create a world worth living in” (Edwards-Groves et al. 2020, p 126)
The researchers asked the question: What did the national leadership programme require to meet the needs of small schools in a time of uncertainty?
They undertook collaborative action research with local authority employers and programme participants (Coghlan and Brannick, 2014), drawing on their wider work with leaders in small rural schools, to examine practice and to remodel the programme to provide support for sustainable leadership. The reflective analysis presented here is framed through the conceptual work of Bottery (2016) where leadership sustainability and unsustainability links to world sustainability and unsustainability.
Leadership sustainability is key for rural schools across Europe and is linked to the notion of preserving something that is valued. It is therefore appropriate to explore uncertainty for leaders within rural schools not only through the lens of sustainability of the school in the community but also through what is valued and brings hope for the future. The Brundtland Report (1987, P. 8) defines sustainability as “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”. This reflects not only on the sustainability of the natural environment but also of the human world.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThis paper presents the outcomes of collaborative action research (Coghlan and Brannick, 2009) the researchers carried out while teaching a programme for newly appointed headteachers in rural schools in 2022-23.
Scotland has a national leadership programme for newly appointed headteachers. The programme has a national framework but is designed and taught as a separate programme in three different universities.
In reviewing the programme in 2023 it was apparent that the national programme did not fully meet the needs of the leaders in the rural areas. During the same period a National Review was taking place in Scottish Education. There was much uncertainty and through a collaborative approach with local authority leaders and headteachers the researchers remodelled the programme to provide opportunity to support and challenge the rural leaders within their unique locations. The online structure of the programme was reinforced and flexibility added to support the sustainability of rural leadership (Bottery, 2016).
The researchers have strong connections with rural education which they brought to the developing of the national programme for leaders within rural contexts. Their knowledge of the field and being within the field has influenced their use of an ethnographic approach to the research and data handling. Their role is “part spy, part voyeur, part fan, part member” (Van Maanen, 1978, 346): their main aim being to observe and analyse how leaders interact with each other, communities and with their environment, in order to understand what is required for sustainable rural leadership.
The data collected include the national framework, field notes from the collaborative action and responses from the participants to the programme activities. This initial data set is supplemented by focus group discussions with the group of participants in 2023 – 24. Analysis was carried out through structured reflection on programme content and individual responses, both approaches focusing on the development of sustainable strategic leadership (Davies, 2004) for rural schools.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThis research analysed the collaborative response to and development of a programme supporting newly appointed headteachers in rural schools. The programme , which is delivered digitally and remotely, was welcomed by participants and offers a pathway to improved leadership activities which would not be possible due to geographical isolation from the main central urban based universities. The work undertaken provided support for rural leadership in the current uncertain times. Recognition has been given at national level in Scotland that the remodelling of the programme and the development has been an important part of the overall programme in Scotland.
Leadership in small rural schools requires strategic leadership which is embedded in context and understands the national requirements. To ensure the future of small rural schools these leaders need to have strong foundations in their own leadership journey (Davies, 2004). The research evidenced that in small schools headteachers often perform a middle leadership role concurrently with that of headship. Middle leaders have the potential to impact areas such as teacher capacity, school reform, teacher motivation, morale and most importantly, but less commonly reported, student learning (Lipscombe et al(2021). The researcher explores participant response to those concurrent roles.
ReferencesBarakat,B.(2015). A “recipe for depopulation”? School closures and local population decline in Saxony. Population, Space and Place, 21(8),735-753. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp1853
Bottery,M. (2016) Educational Leadership For a More Sustainable World. London, Bloomsbury Academic
Bruntland Report (1987):World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) “Our Common Future”. The Bruntland Report. Oxford, Oxford University Press
Coghlan, D. & Brannick, T. 4thed. (2014) Doing Action Research in your own Organization, London, Sage Publications Ltd.
Davies, B, Leading the Strategically Focused School: Success and Sustainability, 2004, London, Paul Chapman Publishing
Edwards-Groves, C., Wilkinson, J., & Mahon, K. (2020) Leading as shared transformative educational practice. In K. Mahon, C. Edwards-Groves, S.Francisco, M. Kaukko, S. Kemmis, & K. Petrie(Eds.) Pedagogy, education and praxis in critical times (pp117-140). Springer Nature.
Kucerova,S.R, Meyer,P., & Trahorsch, P. (2020) Factors Influencing Elementary Education System in Selected European Countries. Gristy, C., Hargreaves,L. & Kucerova, S.( eds) Educational Research and Schooling in Rural Europe, Information Age Publishing Inc, USA
Lipscombe, K., & Tindall-Ford, S. (2021). Middle leadership: A partnership in teaching and learning. Australian Educational Leader, 43(2), 14-17.
Francisco, S., Kaukko, M., Kemmis, S. & Petrie, K. (eds). Pedagogy, education and praxis in critical times. Springer Nature
Ribchester, C. & Edwards, B. (1999) The centre and the local: Policy and Practice in rural education provision. Journal of Rural Studies, 15 (1) pp. 49- 63
Scottish Government (2014) Children and Young People (Scotland ) Act 2014, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2014/8/pdfs/asp_20140008_en.pdf
Van Maanen J. (1978) Epilogue: on watching the watchers In P. Manning and J. Van Maanen (eds.) Policing: a view from the street, pp. 309- 49. California, Goodyear
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