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PurposeHikikomori is a multidimensional condition, characterized by voluntarily social withdrawal, impacting the relational dimension of life. The current study aims to examine secondary school teachers' beliefs, knowledge and needs on hikikomori and students' social withdrawal.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative method consisting of a semi-structured interview is adopted with 22 Italian secondary school teachers. The interview questions are focused on the beliefs, the profile, the conditions and the role of the school for adolescents socially retired.FindingsData are analysed using content analysis based on the grounded theory framework. Forty-nine codes emerged from the inductive analysis, which were sorted into the following categories: (1) Characteristics of hikikomori and social withdrawal; (2) Origin, causes and consequences; (3) Sources of information; (4) Socio-relational modalities; (5) Teachers' needs and role of the school. Teachers are aware of the educational issues and risks related to hikikomori and claim for more institutional support. Teachers reconsider the way of working in class for preventing the risk of self-isolation, supporting the development of social and emotional skills, and encouraging collaboration and positive exchanges among students. Participants mention a personalized student-centred method where families and external agencies support the school system.Originality/valueAlthough several clinical and psychological interventions have been developed for treating the hikikomori’s self-isolation and concomitant mental disorders, few plans have been implemented for reducing the risk of adolescents' social withdrawal. Preventing hikikomori is crucial as well as to investigate the role and the needs of school teachers, and the current study has tried to explore these.

Students from regional and remote areas remain significantly under-represented in higher education despite decades of equity policy designed to encourage participation. One explanation is that policy initiatives often overlook the realities in local rural contexts that can make higher education less desirable. Applying the theoretical lens of 'doxic' and 'habituated' aspirations, this paper analyzes interviews with 13 students, 10 parents/carers, and 4 teachers from one regional and one remote community in NSW, Australia. We document the emotional and material realities shaping young people's imagined futures in these communities, highlighting the commitment to a rural lifestyle in one, and the desire to escape the other community in decline. We argue that developing successful initiatives to address equitable participation in higher education requires a departure from hegemonic discourses of 'rurality' and greater recognition of and respect for the diverse needs and desires of regional and remote students. [Author abstract]

Remote Education Tutors (RETs) are central to the delivery of distance schooling in Australia and are accountable for the face-to face supervision and educational support of students. They act as the government mandated adult supervisors of Australian primary and secondary school students enrolled in distance education, including geographically isolated learners. This paper draws on statistical data from a national survey ( N  = 575) that was designed to map the perceptions of Australian RETs. These data confirmed that RETs act as a conduit between the distance schooling teacher and student, and that their role requires complex capabilities to be performed within a structured framework. Time restrictions with competing demands present a constant challenge to the RETs’ work satisfaction. Constraining this occupation is the reality that there is no formal qualification available for RETs. Without specific credentialling, it appears that the RETs’ (in)visible role risks being overlooked as a substantive educational occupation.

Online learning presents an opportunity to expand access to higher education to traditionally underrepresented students. However the challenges for these students may persist even when study is undertaken off campus. Fostering a sense of belonging and personal connection to learning may present a way to improve the learning experience and retention of these students, especially in the first year. In a qualitative study of university students from non-traditional backgrounds and academics, sense of belonging was found as a characteristic highly valued in online courses. How sense of belonging was understood and experienced by students, and the strategies used by academics to foster belonging in online learning are discussed. [Author abstract]

Recent media and policy focus in remote Aboriginal education has turned to boarding schools. The general rhetoric is that boarding schools will allow Indigenous Australian students to have access to quality education and to learn to ‘walk in two worlds’. However, to date, there has been very little exploration of the lived experiences of Indigenous boarding schools, either from broader political and sociological perspectives, or from the schools themselves. Furthermore, understanding of how the residential side of boarding constructs the use of time and presents educational and social development opportunities is lacking. This paper aims to begin to address this, by presenting the goals and intended outcomes of a residential program for remote central Australian Aboriginal students. Through analysis of 17 semistructured interviews with residence staff, this paper identifies the two overarching goals of the program, as well as the more specific learning outcomes from which the program expects its students to benefit. The research presented is preliminary data that forms part of a broader PhD study of postboarding school expectations and outcomes for remote Aboriginal students, their families, and their communities.

Currently, Australian boarding schools undertake to provide a home away from home for around 20,000 adolescents. Research documenting the boarding school experience is scarce, and, with few exceptions, exists as a less significant aspect of more general research into private school education. Such school-based research focuses on the positive, character-building benefits of the boarding experience. However, case studies of former boarders paint quite a different picture. In order for boarding schools to best support boarders' development, it is vital that adults who fulfil a parenting role undertake appropriate training. This paper draws together available information to present a comprehensive picture of boarding in Australian schools, with a focus on the challenges faced by the in loco parentis role of staff. It is apparent that more skills-based training is vital to better equip staff in this very important role. [Author abstract]

The practicum experience is often highlighted as the core of any pre-service teacher education course. Unless effective communication mechanisms can be established to support students in off-campus locations, the practicum experience can be compromised if students feel isolated and abandoned when faced with difficulties. Such a scenario may be particularly relevant to students in remote placements or for those who have been identified as being at-risk. The main goal of this project was to determine whether a Wiki could be an effective tool for facilitating meaningful dialogue between the university, school-based personnel and students during the practicum. A Wiki was selected as the tool for the project as most students are familiar with this second generation web-based social software. This paper reports on the nature, organisation and results of the project. [Author abstract]

In Western Australia there is a relatively small number of students whose behaviour is so severe that they are precluded from participating in regular schools. One alternative education placement for these students has been to enrol them in the Schools of Isolated and Distance Education (SIDE) program. This research reviews the enrolment of excluded students at SIDE as perceived by the personnel who provide this service. A number of key issues emerge that pertain specifically to student learning, communication, attitude and the lack of availability of appropriate alternative programs for these students. [Author abstract]

This paper examines the provision of distance education to young people studying from their isolated properties in remote areas of Australia. While Australia's innovative approach to remote education is well established, this paper challenges the gender and structural assumptions underpinning this approach. A sustained period of rural restructuring and a long period of drought have changed the social relations of agriculture in a number of significant ways that ultimately undermine distance education as it is currently constructed. The assumption that mothers are available to provide home tutoring is no longer valid given the pressures on them to work on properties due to staff cutbacks and off properties to earn additional income. Further, the trend for farm family properties to be amalgamated into larger holdings and for these holdings to be run by farm workers also undermines the assumption that parents are willing, able and resourced to home tutor their children for long periods. This paper raises significant questions about the adequacy of current distance education provisions in remote areas.

For several years, the government of the western Canadian province of Alberta has drafted policies and conducted research on the problem of populations under-represented in adult education. This Alberta-North and Athabasca University study, funded by the Alberta government’s Innovation Fund, uses the advice and educational experiences of northern former and present students, and of other community members, to identify ways of better attracting, preparing, and retaining under-represented populations in northern Alberta communities through provision and training in the use of distance delivery methods.The research reported here commences with a review of the literature to investigate the following: 1) the contribution distance education makes globally to learning access in remote areas (and resulting economic growth for under-served populations); 2) how support is provided to retain isolated students; and 3) the help needed to assist remote students to complete distance programs. Community consultations with social service and education agencies in three communities were conducted in order to obtain their perspectives about what helps to attract and support students to educational programs and the barriers students typically encounter, which might be mitigated by distance methods. Finally, a survey was designed and distributed in 87 Alberta-North communities in northern Alberta and across Canada’s Northwest Territories to add perspective to the consultation results.