Education

Basic Aspects of the Issue

Education, like Health, is one of the big frogs in the rural ponds. The closing of a school through consolidation mean less traffic through the other services in town from parents who come in with their children. It is a major draw on the local tax base. It provides several good paying jobs in the community, and serves to help distribute Provincial wealth outside the borders of Winnipeg.

On the Educational front, it provides facilities for training students for local jobs upon migration to cities, and the base for the overall social fabric necessary in every country. Education reaches into every aspect of life. Adam Smith even placed the Churches under the heading of "Adult Education", and Robert Raines developed an institution called the "Sunday School" to teach children to read and write on their one day off from the mills of England during the Industrial Revolution in order to get them up out of their misery.. Education is still in the forefront of many aspects of Rural Development, on and off-line. It is under continued pressure in the age of globalization both as an institution and as a process for turning out students able to cope in a rapidly changing world.

Rural Development Institute Research Studies

• "A Preliminary Analysis of Related Educational Issues in Manitoba" - Richard Rounds
  . This study looks at the relevance of education for rural development. It notes the need for education to sustain the fabric of rural towns and provide the base for alternate activities, both locally and at a distance when people migrate to cities. The educational support system is a major economic player in the local economy, and forms one aspect of the tax base that really pays off in the long run. This paper has big implications for the Church in the area of Christian Education as that institution sometimes plays a gap-filling role.

• "Strategies for Restructuring Manitoba Secondary Schools" - Steve Britton
  Steve presses for better care for the 70% of non-post-secondary bound students in the light of globalization. He went to 15 schools across Canada that were restructuring and seen as doing so, and gives 15 portraits of options. Very good source re: educational change.

• "A Preceptorship Model for Nurses in Rural Health Care Facilities" - M. Enid Pottinger
  This study presents a training model to ease nurses into the rural scene (which has few supports, demands fast response, and has diverse demands.

• "Teaching Art By Teleconferencing in rural Schools" - Mary Judith Bewer
  This researcher was a teacher faced with the problem of having to teach Art to a few remote students and wondered if it could be done by teleconferencing. This project was conducted suing 1994 levels of technology.

• "The Minnidosa Regional Training Project" - Patricia G. Heuchert
  This study documents a process followed. It was written up as a Masters Project in education. She was in the project to ID and fix the Human Resource training needs in several adjacent Municipalities north of Brandon, and got permission to write it up.

• "The Economic and Social Impact of Schools on Rural Communities" - Jack Lam
  Jack looks at the economic and social impact of schools and counters the notion that they are an economic drain. He posits them as being an investment in human capital. His research model could provide a pattern for similar evaluations on other rural institutions.

• "The Distance Delivery of a High School Program to Hutterite Colonies" -
  

Other Resources

• "Computer Technologies in the Basic French Classroom: An Investigation of Current Practices in Manitoba" -Carol Harvey M.Ed. Thesis Brandon University
  This 2000 study examines grade 8 and grade 12 French language instruction practice in the public school classroom to establish a baseline in level of computer use. These two grades are the top levels of middle and senior years programs. As the technology is very new, this initial survey of Manitoba teachers as to current practice sets out the current situation and makes recommendations as to future development.