The Keppel Isles

I started teaching sixty years ago. My daughter started three years ago. The contrast in her role as beginning teacher compared with mine in the 1960s could not be more extreme in terms of autonomy, professionalism and job satisfaction.Having worked in Australian education for six decades, I have seen teaching decline from one of the preferred careers for graduates to one where universities have difficulty attracting able people into their teacher education courses. A significant percentage of new teaching graduates leave the profession in the first five years. I find this disappointing and distressing because my early experiences as a teacher were exciting, challenging and fulfilling - a career I would have recommended to anyone.I began writing this three-part book in 2019, before the Covid-19 global pandemic. While the pandemic has had serious repercussions for some aspects of Australian education, particularly in the tertiary field, it may also productively have shaken loose some of the rigidity that has plagued Australian school education over the last two decades.In this book, there are places where diagrams and illustrations are used to complement the text. This practice is reflective of my teaching habits in both the classroom and as a television presenter.I hope readers of my generation will identify with the trends outlined in the three parts of this book and perhaps understand them better.I hope policy makers at all levels will see possible ways ahead.Most of all, I hope aspiring teachers will find inspiration that they too, given the chance, might enjoy teaching as much as I have.