Initial teacher education is not the problem: retaining teachers in regional, rural, and remote schools

Abstract

This abstract presents an analysis of federal policies concerning rural, regional, and remote (RRR) teaching, focusing on initial teacher education and teaching quality within these areas. The study utilises Bacchi’s ‘What’s the Problem Represented to Be?’ (WPR) approach to interrogate the framing of RRR teaching issues within policy discourse. Through a comprehensive review of two federal policies, this analysis explores how the design and implementation of teacher education programmes are placed to address the challenges in providing quality education in RRR areas. We underscore the importance of critically examining policy representations to better understand and address the complex issues surrounding RRR teachers and teaching.