Colonial history of Torres Strait Islanders and the roles played by the London Missionary Society (L.M.S.) and the Queensland government in the process of schooling from 1873 to 1941; emergence and development of L.M.S. and Queensland government schooling in the Torres Strait; missionary and government education policies and their implementation; curriculum patterns; roles of non-Indigenous and Indigenous teachers and the training of Islanders for teaching; appropriation of and resistance to schooling; evaluation of schooling in terms of Island custom