Research in rural and remote locations not surprisingly presents possibilities and challenges for the researcher and participant. Drawing on two separate projects with small rural schools in Australia, the researchers examine some of the methodological issues faced in the development and dissemination of the research. Both projects were multi-year and involved participants from multiple states and territories in Australia. One project involved six researchers and twenty rural school communities. These schools were overcoming the trend, so often seen in rural small schools, of high staff turnover. The other project involved one researcher with five principals of small schools who were identified by their peers as offering a good example of leaders seeking to challenge the status quo to improve outcomes for students. Anchored in the context of these two projects, the methodological possibilities and challenges of transparency, interpretation, authenticity and well-being are engaged with. From this critical methodological approach the researchers identify and discuss the strategies developed to overcome barriers to more socially inclusive concepts of research and the implications this had on them and those from the rural schools.