Rural Education Across the World: Models of Innovative Practice and Impact

Professor Simone White is Professor and Associate Dean (International and Engagement) in the Faculty of Education at Queensland University of Technology. Her area of expertise is Teacher Education and her publications, research and teaching are all focused on the key question of how to best prepare teachers and leaders for diverse communities (both local and global). Her current research areas focus on rural education, teacher education policy, teacher development, professional experience and building and maintaining university-school/community partnerships. She is the Past President of the Australian Teacher Education Association (ATEA) and a past Vice President of the Society for the Provision for Education in Rural Australia (SPERA).

Professor Simone White has recently led an Australian government grant, with colleagues from Queensland University of Technology, Edith Cowan University and Charles Sturt University, which focused on improving the preparation of future teachersto work in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents and caregivers. Through her collective work, she aims to connect research, policy and practice in ways that bring teachers and school and university based teacher educators together and break down traditional borders between academics, policy makers, communities and practitioners.

Dr. Jayne Downey is Professor in the Department of Education and serves as the Director of the Center for Research on Rural Education at Montana State University. Her academic background is in the domain of Educational Psychology with a specific focus on the nature of learning and learners, the characteristics of effective teaching, and the contextual factors that influence the teaching and learning process. She has worked in the field of educator preparation for 20 years and her research agenda is focused on strengthening the preparation of prospective teachers and improving outcomes of P-20 education across rural contexts.

Dr. Downey serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Montana Small Schools Alliance working on behalf of 140 of Montana’s smallest rural and remote schools. She is an editor for the Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, co-leader of the Rural Education International Research Alliance, and hosted the International Symposium for Innovation in Rural Education 2018, which convened 125 rural educators and researchers from around the globe to celebrate the importance of rural education and explore how research can inform rural practice.