Learn fast, teach young

TEACHING is a hot-button issue in this country for a very good reason: better teachers equal better educational outcomes.

TEACHING is a hot-button issue in this country for a very good reason: better teachers equal better educational outcomes.

But what shapes a good teacher?

Is it a person who receives tertiary training in the craft of teaching?

Is it an old hand guided by experience rather than theory? Or is it a bright young thing who is parachuted into the classroom after just six weeks of teacher training?

Caroline Overington's cover story focuses on the latter example, a model whereby the brightest of the bright are fast-tracked into disadvantaged schools.

You can see why it's controversial, but there are big questions around the issue that are worthy of serious examination.