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This paper draws from a large longitudinal study into issues related to student retention beyond the compulsory years of schooling and gives voice to a commonly-overlooked set of stakeholders, namely those in the community. Although many studies report on students’ and teachers’ opinions of the influence of the community on student engagement and retention, very little is found based on data from the community members themselves. This paper provides an analysis of 11 in-depth interviews carried out with members of the community during the three-year mixed-methods research project on student retention in rural, regional, and disadvantaged areas of Tasmania. Of the themes that emerged, the most salient was that of the provision of educational pathways for students. Other themes included job opportunities, both as a positive and negative influence on student retention, the responsibilities of the community from the perspectives of community members themselves, and their views of the importance of parents and teachers in relation to retention.

Item Type:	Refereed Conference Paper
Keywords:	Retention beyond Year 10 Community views
Research Division:	Education
Research Group:	Education systems
Research Field:	Secondary education
Objective Division:	Education and Training
Objective Group:	Other education and training
Objective Field:	Other education and training not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Watson, JM (Professor Jane Watson)
UTAS Author:	Wright, SE (Mrs Suzie Wright)
UTAS Author:	Beswick, K (Professor Kim Beswick)
UTAS Author:	Hay, I (Professor Ian Hay)
UTAS Author:	Cranston, NC (Professor Neil Cranston)
ID Code:	107075
Year Published:	2015
Funding Support:	Australian Research Council (LP110200828)
Deposited By:	Faculty of Education
Deposited On:	2016-03-03
Last Modified:	2017-12-18
Downloads:	249 View Download Statistics