Schooling the Torres Strait Islander, 1873-1941

Abstract

This thesis examines the role of schooling in the implementation and achievement of the respective religious and secular policies of the London Missionary Society (L.M.S.) and the Queensland Government in the Reserve Islands of Torres Strait. It sets out to analyse the educational policies of mission and government, the practices and processes by which attempts were made to implement them in the schools, and the outcomes of schooling for the L.M.S., the Queensland government, and Torres Strait Islanders. Particular attention is paid to policies, styles of administration, the curriculum, roles of teachers, indigenous teacher training, and Islanders' responses to schooling. The various historical, socio-cultural, geographical, and community contexts in which schooling was set are woven into the analysis as important considerations.

The thesis reviews arguments for considering the Reserve Islands as a colony of Queensland. Further, it attempts to go beyond conventional theorising on colonial education by using holistic, qualitative and interpretive approaches. These approaches allow for interactive analysis of an array of elements in the Reserve Islands which shaped the policies, practices, and outcomes of schooling. It provides for an eclectic historiography, which, it is argued, allows for Islander and European viewpoints to be considered, and relevant contextual features to be included.