‘An essential service’: The national board and teacher education, 1831-1870

Abstract

The education of teachers was one of the main objects of the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland (CNEI) from their establishment in 1831. Both of the previous parliamentary reports on the state of education in Ireland, that of the Commissioners of the Board of Education in 1812 and that of the Commissioners of Irish Education Inquiry in 1825, had emphasised the urgent need for a supply of trained schoolteachers to lead a system of national education. Both these reports had recommended the setting up of a government board of education, which would aid the building of schools, supervise the content of the curriculum and provide the training of ‘well-qualified’ teachers. Therefore, the Stanley Letter of 1831, which established the national school system, listed teacher training as one of its chief objects and stated that the National Board would be responsible for ‘establishing and maintaining a model school in Dublin, and the training of teachers for country schools’. The appointment of teachers was to be the responsibility of the local school manager subject to the following ‘restrictions and regulations’: (1) He (or she) shall be liable to be fined, suspended, or removed altogether, by the authority of the Commissioners, who shall, however, record their reasons; (2) He shall have received previous instruction in a model school in Dublin, sanctioned by the Board. (It was recognised that there were ‘many teachers already working in schools and that the Board would only be able to train a limited number of teachers in its early years, so a proviso was added to the effect that ‘N.B. It is not intended that this regulation should apply to prevent the admission of masters or mistresses of schools already established, who may be approved by the Commissioners), and (3) He shall have received testimonials of good conduct, and general fitness for the situation, from the Board.’.