The Local Historian Volume 34, Number 3 August 2004

By Lisa Snook

Teacher-training in England and Wales underwent major changes at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries, as a national system of training colleges was established and the regulation and upgrading of professional standards was introduced. Previously, teachers had been trained in a more haphazard fashion, and there was a major element of 'learning on the job' under the pupil monitor system. This article examines the transition period, between the old and new approaches, using a case study of Liverpool. Lisa Snook considers in particular two major sources which can throw valuable light on the realities of teacher-training and can also give important evidence about the young people who were being drawn to the profession in this period. The first is the register of students at the Clarence Street Pupil Teacher Training College in the city. This includes details of the address, background and family of each the student, and allows cross-referencing with the 1901 census to provide further supporting detail. Using these two sources, a comprehensive picture of the social class, age, educational background and gender of the intake can be established. The other key source was the logbooks of the school where the pupil teachers received their practical experience. The logbooks record essential evidence about the type of training, the often considerable difficulties which pupil teachers faced, and the way that which they fitted into the staffing and timetabling regimes of the schools where they were placed.

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By Bill Shannon

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By Roger Ottewill

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By Christopher Barringer

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By Jeremy Harte

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