to develop systematic research into the principles of teaching and
should be in close touch with the schools in which teachers are
receiving their practical training.
The plan suggested will be free from the reproach often levelled
against the existing method of training teachers, namely, that it is
too theoretical and produces people who can talk glibly about
education without being able to manage a class. It will also recognise
the truth that the young teacher has much to learn in regard to the
art or craft of teaching and that there are certain general principles
which he must know and follow if he is to be successful in his chosen
work. The application of these principles to his own circumstances is
a matter of practice, for in teaching, as in any other art, the
element of personality far outweighs in its importance any matter of
formal technique or special method. The ascertained and accepted
principles underlying all teaching should be known and thereafter the
teacher should develop his own method, reflecting in his practice the
bent of his mind.
The recognition of a principle does not of necessity involve
uniformity in practice. Freedom in execution is possible only within
the limits of an art. The problem is to define these limits in such a
liberal manner as will allow for variety and individual expression.
The saying that teachers are born, not made, is one which may be made
of those who practise any art, but the poet or painter can exercise
his innate gifts only within certain limits and with regard to certain
rules. It is no less fatal to his art for him to abandon all rules
than it is for him to accept every rule slavishly and apply it to
himself without intelligence.
The acceptance of the principle that there is an art or at least a
craft of teaching is a condition precedent to any attempt to make
teaching a profession in reality as well as in name.
The further requirement is that those who are engaged in teaching
should have some power of controlling the conditions under which they
work and more especially of testing the qualifications of those who
desire to join their ranks. This demands a recognition of the
essential unity of all teaching work and a consequent effort to bring
all teachers together as members of one body, possessing a certain
unity or solidarity in spite of its apparent diversities. To form such
a body is a task of great difficulty since the various types of
teachers have in the past tended to separate themselves into groups,
each having its own association and machinery for the protection of
its own interests. Apart from the teaching staffs of the various
universities, there are in England and Wales over fifty associations
of teachers, ranging from the National Union of Teachers with over
ninety thousand subscribing members to bodies numbering only a few
score adherents. These associations reflect the great diversity of
teaching work already described, but all alike are seeking to promote
freedom for the teacher in his work and to advance professional
objects. Such aspirations have been in the minds of teachers for many
years and from time to time attempts have been made to realise them by
establishing a professional Council with its necessary adjunct of a
Register of qualified persons. Seventy years ago the College of
Preceptors, with its grades of Associate, Licentiate and Fellow,
suggesting a comparison with the College of Physicians, was
established with the object of "raising the standard of the profession
by providing a guarantee of fitness and respectability." The College
Register was to contain the names of all those who were qualified to
conduct schools, and admission to the Register was controlled by the
College itself in order to provide a means of excluding all who were
likely to bring discredit upon the calling of a teacher by reason of
their inefficiency or misconduct. The scheme thus launched was,
however, not comprehensive, since it concerned chiefly the teachers
who conducted private schools and did not contemplate the inclusion of
those who were engaged in universities, public schools, or the
elementary schools working under the then recently established scheme
of State grants. Teachers in schools of this last description were
apparently intended by the government of the day to be regarded as
civil servants, appointed and paid by the State. Subsequent
legislation modified this arrangement, but teachers in schools
receiving government grants are still subject to a measure of control,
and those in public elementary schools are licensed by the State
before being allowed to teach. It will be seen that the effort to
organise a teaching profession was hampered from the start by the
fact that teachers were not entirely free to set up their own
conditions, since the State had already taken charge of one branch,
while further difficulties arose from the varied character of
different forms of teaching work and from the circumstance that some
of these forms were traditionally associated with membership of
another profession, that of a clergyman.
Hence it was that despite several attempts to institute a Register of
Teachers and to organise a profession the difficulties seemed to be
insurmountable. Between the years 1869 and 1899 several bills were
introduced in Parliament with the object of setting up a Register of
Teachers but all met with opposition and were abandoned. The Board of
Education Act of 1899 gave powers for constituting by Order in Council
a Consultative Committee to advise the Board on any matter referred to
the Committee and also to frame, with the approval of the Board,
regulations for a Register of Teachers. It was not until 1902 that an
Order in Council established a Registration Council and laid down
regulations for the institution of a Register. The Council thus
established consisted of twelve members, six of whom were nominated by
the President of the Board of Education while one was elected by each
of the following bodies: the Headmasters' Conference, the Headmasters'
Association, the Head Mistresses' Association, the College of
Preceptors, the Teachers' Guild, and the National Union of Teachers.
The members of the Council were to hold office for three years, and
afterwards, on 1 April, 1905, the constitution of the Council was to
be revised. The duty assigned to the Council was that of establishing
and keeping a Register of Teachers in accordance with the regulations
framed by the Consultative Committee and approved by the Board of
Education. Subject to the approval of the Board the Council was
empowered to appoint officers and to pay them. The income was to be
provided by fees for registration and the accounts were to be audited
and published annually by the Board to whom the Council was also
required to submit a report of its proceedings once a year.
Under this scheme a Register was set up, with two columns, A and B. In
the former were placed the names of all teachers who had obtained the
government certificate as teachers in public elementary schools. This
involved no application or payment by such teachers, who were thus
registered automatically. Column B was reserved for teachers in
secondary schools, public and private. Registration in these cases was
voluntary and demanded the payment of a registration fee of one guinea
in addition to evidence of acceptable qualification in regard to
academic standing and professional training. Although teachers of
experience were admitted on easier terms the regulations were intended
to ensure that, after a given date, everybody who was accepted for
registration should have passed satisfactorily through a course of
training in teaching. As designed in the first instance Column B
furnished no place for teachers of special subjects and it became
necessary to institute supplemental Registers in regard to music and
other branches which had come to form part of the ordinary curriculum
of a secondary school.
The scheme thus provided a Register divided into groups according to
the nature of the accepted applicant's work. Such an arrangement
presented many difficulties since it ignored all university teachers
and assigned the others to different categories depending in some
instances on the type of school in which they chanced to be working
and in others on the subject which they happened to be teaching.
A professional Register constructed on these lines had the seeming
advantage of supplying information as to the type of work for which
the individual teacher was best fitted. On the other hand it was held
that the division of teachers into categories was unsound in principle
and the teachers in public elementary schools were not slow to resent
the suggestion that they belonged to an inferior rank and were
properly to be excused the payment of a fee. They pointed out that
many of their number held academic qualifications which were higher
than those required to secure admission to Column B wherein some
eleven thousand teachers had been registered, of whom not more than
one half were graduates. The views thus expressed were shared by many
other teachers and it speedily became manifest that the proposed
Register could not succeed. In the Annual Report of 1905 the Council
stated that under existing conditions it was not practicable to frame
and publish an alphabetical Register of Teachers such as appeared to
be contemplated in the Act of 1899. In June, 1906, the Board of
Education published a memorandum stating the reasons which had led it
to take the opportunity afforded by impending legislation to abolish
the Register, and in the Education Bill of 1906 a clause was inserted
which removed from the Consultative Committee the obligation to frame
a Register of Teachers. This clause was strongly opposed by many
associations of teachers. It was urged by these bodies that although
one scheme had failed yet a Register was still possible and desirable.
It was held by many that the task assigned to the Registration Council
had been an impossible one since the conditions of supervision and
control imposed under the Act of 1899 left the Council very little
freedom and wholly precluded the establishment of a self-governing
profession. The general opinion seemed to be that any future Register
must be in one column avoiding any attempt to divide those registered
into different classes and that any future Council must be as
independent and widely representative as possible. This opinion found
expression and official sanction in a memorandum issued by the Board
of Education in 1911 after several conferences had been held for the
purpose of promoting a new registration scheme. The memorandum stated
that: "It should not be so much the kinds of teachers likely to be
most rapidly or easily admitted to the Register that should specially
determine the composition of the Council but rather the larger and
more general conception of the unification of the Teaching
Profession." This new and wider idea served to govern the formation of
the Teachers Registration Council which was established by an Order
in Council of February, 1912. The body constituted by this Order
consists wholly of teachers and includes eleven representatives of
each of the following classes: the Teaching Staffs of Universities,
the Associations of Teachers in Public Elementary Schools, the
Associations of Teachers in Secondary Schools, and the Associations of
Teachers of Specialist Subjects. The Council thus numbers forty-four
and it is ordered that the chairman shall be elected by the Council
from outside its own body. At least one woman must be elected by each
appointing body which sends more than one representative to the
Council provided that the body includes women among its members. It
will be seen that the constitution aimed at forming a Council wholly
independent and thoroughly representative. This quality was further
ensured by the establishment of ten committees, representing various
forms of specialist teaching and providing that any conditions of
registration framed by the Council should be submitted to these
committees before publication.
The first Council under this scheme was formed in 1912 and held office
for three years as prescribed by the Order in Council. The chairman
was the Right Honourable A.H. Dyke Acland and the members included the
Vice-Chancellors of several universities and representatives of
forty-two associations of teachers. The first duty of the Council was
to devise conditions of registration and these were framed during
1913, being published at the end of that year. They provide in the
first place that up to the end of 1920 any teacher may be admitted to
registration who produces evidence of having taught under
circumstances approved by the Council for a minimum period of five
years. Regard for existing interests led to the setting up of a period
of grace before the full conditions of registration came into force.
After 1920, however, these become more stringent and require that
before being admitted to registration the teacher shall produce
evidence of knowledge and experience, while all save university
teachers are also required to have undertaken a course of training in
teaching. Under both the temporary and later arrangement the minimum
age for registration is twenty-five and the fee is a single payment of
one guinea. There is no annual subscription.
The second Council was elected in 1915 and appointed as its chairman
Dr Michael E. Sadler, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds. Up
to the middle of July, 1916, the number of teachers admitted to the
Register was 17,628 and the names of these were included in the
_Official List of Registered Teachers_ issued by the Council at the
beginning of 1917. The Register itself is too voluminous for
publication since it comprises all the particulars which an accepted
applicant has submitted. All registered teachers receive a copy of
their own register entry together with a certificate of registration.
It will be seen that the task of receiving and considering
applications for registration forms an important part of the Council's
work. But it is by no means its chief function. As is shown in the
Board of Education memorandum already quoted the Council is intended
to promote the unification of the teaching profession. The Register
is nothing more than the symbol of this unity and the Council is
charged with the important task of expressing the views of teachers as
a body on all matters concerning their work. This is shown in the
speech made by the Minister of Education at the first meeting of the
Council. After welcoming the members he added:
"The object of the Council would be not only the formation of a
Register of Teachers. There were many other spheres and fields of
usefulness for a Council representative of the Teaching Profession. He
hoped that they would be able to speak with one voice as representing
the Teaching Profession, and that the Board would be able to consult
with them. So long as he was head of the Board they would always be
most anxious to co-operate with the Council and would attach due
weight to their views. He hoped that they on their side would realise
some of the Board's difficulties and that the atmosphere of friendly
relationship which he trusted had already been established would
continue."
The functions of the Council are thus seen to extend beyond the mere
compilation of a Register of Teachers and to include constant
co-operation with those engaged in educational administration. In view
of the desire which is now generally expressed for a closer union
between the directive and executive elements in all branches of
industry it is safe to assume that the Teachers' Council will grow
steadily in importance, especially if it is seen to have the support
of all teachers.
Meanwhile it furnishes the framework of a possible teaching
profession and gives promise of securing for the teacher a definite
status by establishing a standard of attainment and qualification.
More than this will be required, however, if the work of teaching is
to be placed on its proper level in public esteem. Those who undertake
the work must be led to look for something more than material gain.
The teacher needs a sense of vocation no less than the clergyman or
doctor. It has been said that "teaching is the noblest of professions
but the sorriest of trades" and the absence of any real enthusiasm for
the work inevitably produces an attitude of mind which is alien to the
spirit of a real teacher. The material reward of the teacher has
accurately reflected the want of public esteem attaching to his work.
For the most part a meagre pittance has been all that he could
anticipate and this has led to a steady decline in the number of
recruits. A profession should furnish a reasonable prospect of a
career and a fair chance of gaining distinction. Such opportunities
have been far too few in teaching to attract able and ambitious young
men in adequate number. The remedy is to open every branch of
educational work and administration to those who have proved
themselves to be efficient teachers. The national welfare demands that
those who are to be charged with the task of training future citizens
should be drawn from the most able of our young people, to whom
teaching should offer a career not less attractive than other
callings. In particular the teacher should be regarded as a member of
a profession and trusted to carry out his duties in a responsible
manner. Excessive supervision and inspection will tend to discourage
and eventually destroy that quality of initiative which is
indispensable in all teaching. Freed from the monetary cares which now
oppress him, definitely established as a member of a profession having
some voice in its own concerns, encouraged to exercise his art under
conditions of the greatest possible freedom, and provided with
reasonable opportunity for advancement, the teacher will be able to
take up his work in a new spirit. We may then demand from new-comers a
sense of vocation and expect with some justification that teachers
will be able to avoid the professional groove which is hardly to be
escaped and which is quite inevitable if the conditions of one's work
preclude opportunity for maintaining freshness of mind and a variety
of personal interest. Such limitations as accompany inadequate
salaries, lack of prospects and absence of professional status convert
teaching into "a dull mechanic art" and deprive it of its chief
elements of enjoyment, namely the free exercise of personality and the
recurring satisfaction of seeing minds develop under instruction, so
that we are conscious of our part in helping the future citizens to
make the most of their lives. It is this power of impressing one's own
personality on the pliable mind of youth which brings at once the
greatest responsibility and the highest reward to the teacher and
attaches to his task a true professional character since it may not be
undertaken fittingly by any who cherish low aims or despise their
work.