- The Rural Educator 14 Can a Week Make a Difference? Changing Perceptions about Teaching and Living in Rural Alaska

Many Alaskan schools are located in extremely remote or 'fly-in ' places. These geographical extremes affect the recruitment and retention of teachers to remote rural schools. Through a partnership between the Southwest Region School District of Alaska and the Department of Education at Alaska Pacific University (APU), 14 pre-service teachers participated in a one-week remote rural practice teaching experience. These APU students lived and taught in village schools where indigenous Alaska Natives were the majority and whose language is Yup’ik. Through the use of pre and post experience questionnaires, the pre-service teachers ’ views about rural teaching and seeking rural appointments were sought