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Valuing the rural: putting the rural first

Team Members

Assoc Prof Philip Roberts
Prof Daniela Stehlik
Rural studies academics around the world

Project Timeline: 2020-2022

In contemporary society rural, regional and remote (RRR) students, and their communities, are often described as ‘disadvantaged’. This ‘disadvantage’ has long been a wicked problem in Australian social policy. However, with over half the world’s population living in urban locations, rural communities and their knowledges are marginalised in contemporary society, which influences the way that notions of rural disadvantage—and solutions to this disadvantage—are constructed.

In this project, we aim to flip the assumed construction of the metropolitan as the centre and the rural/ remote as peripheral. In doing so, we seek to gain insights from the work being done around service provision that values rural places and rural people and has sustainable practice at its core.

The project involves the development of an edited book, using the provisional title of ‘Valuing The Rural: Putting the Rural First’. International scholars from a range of rural professional fields of research will contribute to the book, due to be released in late 2022.

This project draws on research undertaken by researchers around the world with an interest in rurality and rural service provision.

This project will culminate with the publication of an edition that provides insights from the work being done around service provision in rural communities. The research all focusses on service provision that values rural places and rural people and has sustainable practice at its core.

Related Publications

  • Roberts, P., & Guenther, J. (2021). Framing Rural and Remote: Key Issues, Debates, Definitions, and Positions in Constructing Rural and Remote Disadvantage. In P. Roberts, & M. Fuqua, (Eds.). Ruraling Education Research (pp. 13-27). Springer, Singapore.
  • 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.
  • Downes, N., Marsh, J., Roberts, P., Reid, J. A., Fuqua, M., & Guenther, J. (2021). Valuing the Rural: Using an Ethical Lens to Explore the Impact of Defining, Doing and Disseminating Rural Education Research. In P. Roberts, & M. Fuqua, (Eds.). Ruraling Education Research (pp. 265-285). Springer, Singapore.
  • Roberts, P. & Hannum, E. (2018). Education and Equity in Rural China: A critical introduction for the rural education field. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education. 28(2),1-13.
  • Corbett, M., & Roberts, P. (2017). A Small Place: Education in Rural Tasmania. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 27(3),1-8.
  • Roberts, P. & Cuervo, H. (2015). What Next for Rural Education Research?. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 25(3). pp.1-8.
  • Roberts, P. (2014). Researching from the Standpoint of the Rural. In S. White & M. Corbett (Eds.). Doing Educational Research in Rural Settings: Methodological Issues, International Perspectives and Practical Solutions. Routledge: New York. pp. 135-148.
  • Roberts, P. & Green, B. (2013). Researching Rural Place(s): On Social Justice and Rural Education. Qualitative Inquiry. 19(10),765 - 774.

Related Projects

For further information on this project, please contact us.