Prof Simone White - Researcher Profile

Simone White

Address

Monash University
Building 4W, Gippsland Campus

Biography

Teacher Education – Better preparing teachers to work in diverse communities

Professor Simone White believes that “teachers need to be better prepared to work in diverse communities” – and she’s giving new teachers the tools to do it.

”New teachers aren’t being prepared well enough to teach in diverse communities such as rural, regional or remote areas. So we need to do something different. Otherwise the shortage of teachers in these communities will continue, particularly in geographically disperse, low socioeconomic or in high multicultural areas.”

Most recently, Simone has launched a number of initiatives to help tackle the teacher shortage felt by diverse communities in Australia – and with much success.

 

In a first for Australia, Simone has led the development of an online resource for teacher educators to better prepare teachers to work in rural, remote and regional areas.  

“What we’ve done is created a website with curriculum materials and resources such as videos of new teachers in diverse areas talking about their experiences. We have principals talking about their expectations and teacher educators who have trialed new models to promote country teaching also sharing their practice. It’s a website, social media platform and discussion forum all rolled into one – this hasn’t been done before.” 

The new site, known as Renewing Rural and Regional Teacher Education Curriculum, or RRRTEC, gives all teacher educators the tools and resources they need directly from the people who really know what they’re talking about – the people living and working in rural communities. 

“We’re trying to show there is a diversity of learners and communities so that pre-service teachers can get a better idea of how to develop a curriculum that meets the needs of all students. Teacher educators often have a suburban classroom in their minds… but they need to prepare our new teachers for these diverse community locations. Graduates could end up working in a small school with 15 kids of all different ages in the same classroom. These kids could be from a farming or mining community. These communities are sometimes smaller, so the teachers in the communities are more visible than their city colleagues and they are usually viewed as leaders in the community. Graduates need to be prepared to work with the school community. So it’s not just multi-age classrooms but also the diverse community background new teachers need to consider.”

Simone’s work has resulted in a motto that teachers need to be “classroom ready, school ready and community ready”.

Her work is having a major impact across Australia.

 

Related Links:

Research & Supervision Interests

    • Teacher education
    • Rural and Regional Education
    • Professional learning of in-service teachers
    • Theory and Practice nexus
    • Literacy education

    Methodology/ methodologies used in research:

    • Case study
    • Narrative Inquiry

Keywords

Teacher Education, Teacher Development, Rural and Regional Education, Partnerships in Education

Qualifications

DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
Institution: University of Sydney
Year awarded: 2003
MASTER OF EDUCATION
Institution: Charles Sturt University
Year awarded: 1994
BACHELOR OF EDUCATION
Institution: Mitchell College, Bathurst
Year awarded: 1990
DIPLOMA OF TEACHING
Institution: Mitchell College, Bathurst
Year awarded: 1988

Publications

Books

Simpson, A., White, S.J., Freebody, P.R., Comber, B.M., 2013, Language, Literacy & Literature, Oxford University Press, Australia.

Starr, K., White, S. (eds), 2009, Willing to Lead. Leading Across Effective Small Schools, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Victoria, Melbourne Vic Australia.

Book Chapters

White, S., 2009, Learning to lead by listening to rural stories, in Willing to Lead. Leading Across Effective Small Schools, eds Karen Starr and Simone White, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Victoria, Melbourne Vic Australia, pp. 75-82.

Journal Articles

White, S.J., Kline, J., 2012, Developing a rural teacher education curriculum package, Rural Educator: A Journal for Rural and Small School Issues [P], vol 33, issue 2, National Rural Education Association, USA, pp. 36-42.

van Velzen, C., Volman, M., Brekelmans, M., White, S., 2012, Guided work-based learning:sharing practical teaching knowledge with student teachers, Teaching and Teacher Education [P], vol 28, Pergamon, United Kingdom, pp. 229-239.

Lock, G., White, S., Cooper, M., Hastings, W., 2011, Editorial, Education in Rural Australia [P], vol 21, issue 1, Society for the Provision of Education for Rural Australia, Bathurst NSW Australia, pp. 1-2.

White, S., Lock, G., Hastings, W., Cooper, M., Reid, J., Green, B., 2011, Investing in sustainable and resilient rural social space: lessons for teacher education, Education in Rural Australia [P], vol 21, issue 1, Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia, Australia, pp. 67-78.

White, S., 2011, Preparing teachers for rural and regional settings: the RRRTEC project, Curriculum leadership - An electronic journal for leaders in education [E], vol 9, issue 20, Education Services Australia, Melbourne Vic Australia, pp. 1-7.

Anderson, M., White, S., 2011, Resourcing change in small schools, Australian Journal of Education [P], vol 55, issue 1, Australian Council for Educational Research, Australia, pp. 50-61.

Mayer, D., Mitchell, J., Santoro, N., White, S., 2011, Teacher educators and 'accidental' careers in academe: an Australian perspective, Journal of Education for Teaching [P], vol 37, issue 3, Routledge, United Kingdom, pp. 247-260.

White, S., Bloomfield, D., Le Cornu, R., 2010, Professional experience in new times: issues and responses to a changing education landscape, Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education [P], vol 38, issue 3, Routledge, Australia, pp. 181-193.

Reid, J., Green, W., Cooper, M., Hastings, W., Lock, G., White, S., 2010, Regenerating rural social space? Teacher education for rural-regional sustainability, Australian Journal of Education [P], vol 54, issue 3, Australian Council for Educational Research, Australia, pp. 262-276.

Lock, G., Reid, J., Green, W., Hastings, W., Cooper, M., White, S., 2009, Researching rural-regional (teacher) education in Australia, Education in Rural Australia [P], vol 19, issue 2, Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia, Australia, pp. 31-44.

White, S., Reid, J., 2008, Placing teachers? Sustaining rural schooling through place-consciousness in teacher education, Journal of Research in Rural Education [E], vol 23, issue 7, Pennsylvania State University College of Education, University Park PA USA, pp. 1-11.

Starr, K., White, S., 2008, The small rural school principalship: key challenges and cross-school responses, Journal of Research in Rural Education [E], vol 23, issue 5, Pennsylvania State University College of Education, University Park PA USA, pp. 1-12.

Maclean, R., White, S., 2007, Video reflection and the formation of teacher identity in a team of pre-service and experienced teachers, Reflective Practice: international and multidisciplinary perspectives [P], vol 8, issue 1, Routledge, United Kingdom, pp. 47-60.

White, S., 2006, Preparing pre-service teachers for rural teaching: a new approach, International Journal of Practical Experiences in Professional Education [P], vol 9, issue 1, Practical Experiences in Professional Education, Australia, pp. 14-19.

Conference Proceedings

White, S., 2010, Creating and celebrating place and partnerships: a key to sustaining rural education communities, Proceedings of the 26th National Conference of the Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia, 15 September 2010 to 17 September 2010, Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia, Wembley WA Australia, pp. 1-11.

White, S., Lock, G., Hastings, W., Cooper, M., 2009, Supporting beginning rural teahers: lessons from successful schools, Australian Teacher Education Association Annual Conference Proceedings, 28 June 2009 to 1 July 2009, Australian Teacher Education Association, Australia, pp. 1-15.

White, S., Green, W., Reid, J., Lock, G., Hastings, W., Cooper, M., 2008, Teacher education for rural communities: a focus on 'incentives', Proceedings of the 2008 Australian Teacher Education Association National Conference, 8 July 2008 to 11 July 2008, Australian Teacher Education Association, Australia, pp. 381-390.

White, S., Baker Hill, H., 2008, What's the difference and where is the evidence? Investigating student teachers learning about literacy in a school based vs university based experience, Proceedings of the 2008 Australian Teacher Education Association National Conference, 8 July 2008 to 11 July 2008, Australian Teacher Education Association, Australia, pp. 372-380.

Joseph, D., White, S., 2006, Team teaching in teacher education: towards an interdisciplinary approach, Proceedings of the 2006 Australian Teacher Education National Conference, 5 July 2006 to 8 July 2006, Australian Teacher Education Association, Australia, pp. 170-175.

White, S., Joseph, D., 2006, The power of rhythm and words: from little things big things grow, 'Voices, vibes and visions: hearing the voices, feeling the vibes, capturing the visions' - Proceedings of the AATE/ALEA National Conference 2006, 8 July 2006 to 11 July 2006, Charles Darwin University, Darwin NT Australia, pp. 1-10.

Maclean, R., White, S., 2005, Developing an inclusive model for 'teacher' professional development, 'Teacher Education: Local and Global' - Proceedings of the Australian Teacher Education Association 33rd Annual Conference, 6 July 2005 to 9 July 2005, Australian Teacher Education Association, Australia, pp. 302-309.

Other

White, S., Kline, J., 2012, Renewing rural and regional teacher education curriculum, West Australian District High School Administrators Association, Australia, pp. 1-20.

Grants

Title:
AITSL Teacher Professional Development in Indigenous Education Course (TPDIEC) Project.
Investigators:
Ma Rhea, Z, White, S
Funding:
(2012 - 2016). Teaching Australia - Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership Limited.
Title:
School Centre for Teaching Excellence Program.
Investigators:
White, S
Funding:
(2012 - 2016). Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
Title:
Using professional standards: Assessing work integrated learning in initial teacher education.
Investigators:
White, S, Sim, C
Funding:
(2011 - 2015). Department of Education, Employment & Workplace Relations.
Title:
Investigating the effectiveness of teacher education for early career teachers in diverse settings: A longitudal study.
Investigators:
White, S, Mayer, D, Doecke, B, Dixon, M, Kostogriz, A, Allard, A
Funding:
(2011 - 2015). Australian Research Council (ARC).
Title:
Authentic assessment in practice settings: A participatory design approach (ALTC Priority Project PP10-1784).
Investigators:
White, S, Reimann, P
Funding:
(2011 - 2015). Australian Learning and Teaching Council.
Title:
Renewing rural and regional teacher education curriculum (PP9-1320).
Investigators:
White, S
Funding:
(2011 - 2015). Australian Learning and Teaching Council.
(2012 - 2016). Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (DIISRTE) - Office for Learning and Teaching.

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Current Supervision

Program of Study:
(MASTER'S BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
School Leadership in remote areas: building a professional learning culture.
Supervisors:
White, S (Main), Plunkett, M (Associate).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
The transfer of learning between field experiences and school: examining 'learning experiences' from the perspectives of students and teachers from school to field and back again.
Supervisors:
Green, M (Joint), White, S (Joint-co).