Fifth-year teacher Emily Ridgely said finding a community in Weipa has kept her in town, despite originally only planning to stay for nine months. Photo: Supplied.
A revolving door of staff is an issue in many sectors in a remote community, but when it comes to educating the future leaders of tomorrow, consistency is key.
A new study by the Edith Cowan University has found building community connections is one of the most important factors in attracting and retaining teachers in rural and remote areas.
Two Weipa teachers agreed that after leaving behind their support networks for their careers in the classroom, finding their place in community was vital in succeeding as a teacher.
Fifth-year St Joseph’s Parish School teacher Emily Ridgley said she originally only planned to stay in Weipa for less than a year, but a delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic led to her finding a community.
“I moved here two weeks before COVID; I had a plan to be here for nine months to finish 2020, but that’s obviously turned into a lot longer,” she said.
“I’ve met my partner since being here, so that’s keeping me here as well.”
Ms Ridgley said one of the great things about being a remote teacher was being able to interact with parents, students and colleagues outside of the school environment.
“I met a lot of people just going to community events, and you see parents and your kids there, and they like to see you outside of school and that you exist outside of school, which I think is nice,” she said.
“I think you can make quite strong relationships with students and families, because they know you as the teacher, but also as a whole person outside of school.”
Lead author of the study, Dr Mary-anne Macdonald, said most rural and remote teachers who moved from an urban life had left behind their support network.
“Successful rural teachers value the social capital in their communities and connect to the community social space; they use their understanding of place to contextualise learning,” she said.
“The tyranny of distance is often perceived as the greatest challenge for teacher retention in regional and remote schools in Australia.”
Teacher Matthew Bakes, who joined the St Joseph’s Parish School team this year, said he had felt welcomed and supported since moving from Melbourne with his young family in January.
“There’s so much available in the community, so provided you’re able to put yourself out there and get involved in things, there’s absolutely the opportunity to connect with a broad range of people,” he said.
“People have been absolutely welcoming, but I think it’s a balance.
“I think there’s a certain amount of hand-holding you can have to try and encourage you to put yourself out there, and the school has done that for me, but it also goes back onto yourself to get out of your comfort zone to develop those connections.”
Especially for younger graduate teachers, Ms Ridgley said she understood it could be hard to leave everything behind and start over, but encouraged them to embrace a beautiful new lifestyle.
“I think the advice would be to just embrace it, try to show up to everything, and try to find the good parts of it if it’s feeling tough,” she said.
“As time goes on, it sort of becomes very natural and easy, and you feel like you belong and you feel at home.”
Matthew Bakes started at St Joseph’s Parish School this year after moving up from Melbourne with his young family. Photo: Supplied.
