The hidden work of giving: Academic intermediaries' role in rural, regional, and remote teacher professional experience placements

Sarah James; Anna Hogan; Catherine Thiele

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The hidden work of giving: Academic intermediaries' role in rural, regional, and remote teacher professional experience placements

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The hidden work of giving: Academic intermediaries' role in rural, regional, and remote teacher professional experience placements

Sarah James, Anna Hogan and Catherine Thiele

Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, Vol.36(1), pp.116-131

2026

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Abstract

philanthropy

professional experience

academic intermediary

cruel optimism

rural

regional

remote

Philanthropic initiatives designed to support preservice teachers’ rural, regional, and remote placement experiences aim to ensure equitable educational opportunities for these school communities by attracting early career teachers and addressing critical teacher shortages. These initiatives provide valuable funding and placement opportunities for preservice teachers, but they also create significant work for academic and professional staff at universities that are tasked with facilitating philanthropic relationships for rural, regional, and remote placements. This paper critically examines how professional experience academics navigate the demands of rural, regional, and remote-focused philanthropic initiatives. Drawing on Berlant’s concept of cruel optimism, we explore how the promise of social good becomes entangled with institutional precarity and unsustainable workloads. We argue that in the absence of institutional support and workload recognition, philanthropic initiatives are at risk of being unsustainable.

Details

Title: The hidden work of giving: Academic intermediaries' role in rural, regional, and remote teacher professional experience placements
Authors: Sarah James - Queensland University of Technology
Anna Hogan - Queensland University of Technology
Catherine Thiele - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Education and Tertiary Access
Publication details: Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, Vol.36(1), pp.116-131
Publisher: Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia
Date published: 2026
Copyright note: Copyright (c) 2025 Sarah James, Anna Hogan, Catherine Thiele. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Organisation Unit: School of Education and Tertiary Access
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991202950902621
Output Type: Journal article

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