Site visits

A visit to a school provides a first-hand opportunity for pre-service teachers to gain insights into the structure, operations and resources of a school and a community that is different to their regular experience.

Small schools, central schools or providers of distance education may be unfamiliar to some students. For these students, exposure to a range of rural and regional schools will help to convey the complexity and diversity represented in non-metropolitan settings.

For students with experiences of various school types, visiting like schools may increase their awareness of the variations between schools.
Visits may be one-off experiences or partnerships may be established whereby pre-service teachers visit a school on a regular basis.

Teacher educators should explore possible funding support from education departments that could facilitate such programs.

Resources:
White, S. and J.-A. Reid (2008). Placing Teachers? Sustaining Rural Schooling through Place-Consciousness in Teacher Education, Journal of Research in Rural Education, 23(7): 1-11. Available from: http://www.jrre.psu.edu/articles/23-7.pdf

Photos from Alvie Primary School visit