The training of teachers in England and Wales, 1900-1939.

In this survey an attempt has been made to trace the historical development of teacher training in England and Wales from 1900 to 1939. In order to do this it was essential to look back and trace how the system that existed in 1900 came into being. In 1900 there were three avenues of approach to the profession of teaching the pupil-teacher system, the residential colleges and the day training colleges. The pupil-teacher system was introduced in England in 1846 and was readily adopted. Modified from time to time but in essence practically unchanged the system remained for nearly sixty years the most important source of supplying candidates for training colleges. From 1870 a significant trend was noticeable in the pupil-teacher system less stress on apprenticeship and more on the personal education of the teacher. This resulted in the establishment of pupil-teacher centres which fulfilled the long-felt need of educating the pupil-teachers properly before admission to training colleges. The 45 residential colleges that were in existence in 1900 were established by churches and voluntary bodies. The bulk of them, 32, belonged to the Church of England. All the colleges taken together provided 2,400 to 2,500 training college places, but the candidates for admission were three times more in number. The duration of the course was generally two years but a third-year course was also offered which, could be taken in the country or elsewhere. The establishment of the day training colleges in 1890 in connection with university colleges and colleges that formed part of a university ushered in a new era in teacher training by linking it with universities and so with the main current of higher education. The new colleges were undenominational and there were 16 of them in 1900. The Education Act of 1902 was of fundamental importance and led to an expansion of secondary education. The newly created LEAs established municipal colleges which relieved the shortage of training college accommodation. The period between 1902 and 1914 was an epoch of outstanding importance in the history of teacher training when striking new experiments and reform of far-reaching influence were introduced. This period witnessed the re-modelling of the old pupil-teacher system by bursar and student teacher systems which provided intending teachers with secondary education up to the age of 16 or 17. Important changes in the courses of instruction introduced in 1904 and 1913 gave the training colleges alternative courses to choose from and also reduced the number of subjects. The day training colleges had extended the scope of their work to include the training of secondary school teachers and by 1912 all the universities and university colleges of England and Wales were training secondary teachers. Separate training colleges for the training of secondary school teachers had developed in the last quarter of the nineteenth century in connection with the movement for higher education for women. After World War I there was a great shortage in the supply of teachers. The prospects of the teaching profession were made attractive by the Superannuation Act of I9I8 and 1925. The appointment of the Burnham Committee to solve the salary problem on a national scale resulted in the improvement of salaries. As the intending teachers were to remain in the secondary school up to the age of 18 the pupil teachership, bursarship and student-teachership were abolished. The examination for "acting teacher certificate" was also discontinued. In response to educational and professional opinion favouring closer connection between training colleges and universities, Joint Boards were created and examination, formulation of syllabus and certification of teachers were transferred from the Board of Education to the Joint Examination Boards. There were no major changes in teacher training in the following decade but the whole conception of education was changing under the impact of new ideas in education. New methods of teaching were introduced and the importance of psychology and child study was increasingly recognized. The training colleges were trying to gear their work to the changing pattern of education. Educational and professional opinion was pressing for still closer connection between training colleges and universities and the time seemed propitious for another move forward when the sudden outbreak of World War II in September 1939 brought things to a temporary standstill.