The Case for a Trained Teaching Service in the Torres Strait Islands

Abstract

Australian teachers as an occupational group have struggled hard since World War It to win the mantle of professional status (Goodman, 1960; Bessant and Spaull, 1972), and although full professional.status is still begrudged those teachers who are public servants, the teacher group in Australia has met at least the major criteria of a profession discemable among the established professions. Important among these is a lengthy tertiary-level training,., basically intellectual in character, in the methods, skills, and ethics of the profession. Not only does such training legitimise teachers as professionals but also it leads to better teaching, better learning, and ultimately an education system of some quality. Never before have society's children had such opportunities to gain maximum benefits from a school education as they now have at the hands of today's teacher professionals. This statement holds true for those children who are white and happen to live in mainland Australia. A less fortunate group is black and lives in the Torres Strait Islands of Queensland.