Early Career Leadership Opportunities in Australian Rural Schools

Abstract

Due to the difficulties inherent in staffing rural schools in Australia, it is increasingly common for beginning teachers to fill school  leadership roles early in their careers. The purpose of this paper is to explore the accelerated progression of some early career teachers who have been offered leadership opportunities in rural schools. Results are drawn from seven semi-structured interviews with early career educators that focused on their experiences of leadership opportunities in rural Australian schools. Quotes from participants illustrate the discussion of the core themes that emerged from the data. Specifically, the themes of Access to Leadership Opportunities and the Nexus of Perso..