School councils have worked successfully in non-government schools, in New South Wales, for many years. However, the establishment of school councils in the government schools have had a much shorter history. This study focused on government schools in rural areas of western New South Wales and specifically examined the impact of the school councils and the relation with the professional development and training needs of these school council members. The findings indicated that school council members expressed concern about their inexperience as council members. Further, they identified the following areas within which they should specifically seek professional development and training: identifying and analysing the educational needs of the school and its community; enhancing and facilitating better communication between the school and its community; assisting the principal to understand local community politics; and promoting public education within the local community. The results of these priority training needs have relevance for policy makers and professional development leaders at the systemic or departmental level.
Key words
School councils, professional development, rural schools, New Wales.
Palomares J. y Collado, D. (2012). Estudio Cualitativo del Impacto de los Consejos Escolares en Relación con las Demandas Formativas de sus Miembros en las Zonas Rurales de Australia. REICE. Revista Iberoamericana sobre Calidad, Eficacia y Cambio en Educación, 10 (3), pp. 105-117.
http://www.rinace.net/reice/numeros/arts/vol10num3/art7.pdf. Cited (Date).
