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The Model Schools and Teacher Training in Nineteenth Century Ireland

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The Model Schools and Teacher Training in Nineteenth Century Ireland MODEL SCHOOLS - MODEL TEACHERS? THE MODEL SCHOOLS AND TEACHER TRAINING IN NINETEENTH CENTURY IRELAND JOSEPH DOYLE A dissertation submitted to Dublin City University in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy History Department, St Patrick’s College Supervisor: Dr James Kelly June 2003 Declaration: I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme of study leading to the award of a Ph.D. in Humanities, is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others, save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. Student Number: TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgements i Abstract iii Abbreviations v Introduction vi PART ONE: BACKGROUND: TEACHERS AND EDUCATION IN IRELAND Chapter 1 Teachers: the need for regulation and training 1 1.1 ‘Schools for the People’ 3 1.2 ‘The People’s Schools’ 6 1.3 ‘Informed’ Comment 11 1.4 The State Response 17 Chapter 2 Teacher Training and the Kildare Place Society 28 2.1 The influence of Joseph Veevers 28 2.2 Legacy of the Kildare Place Society 33 2.3 Teacher Training 38 2.4 Teacher Selection 42 2.5 The Model School - its training function 45 2.6 Patrick Kennedy’s reflections 50 PART TWO: THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MODEL SCHOOL NETWORK Chapter 3 The National System and Teacher Training 1831-46 54 3.1 Early provision for training 55 3.2 Teachers and the course of training 59 3.3 District Model Schools 68 Chapter 4 Administrative Arrangements 77 4.1 External factors 77 4.2 Site selection: the early model schools 1846-49 81 4.3 District and Minor Model Schools 1850-60 85 4.4 Planning and Construction 90 4.5 Operational arrangements and regulations 97 Page Chapter 5 An All-Ireland Network 1846-57 104 5.1 A lack of active opposition 104 5.2 Gathering opposition 117 Chapter 6 The Retreat to Ulster 1858-66 132 671 Archbishop Cullen and the McGauley affair ~ 133 6.2 Minor Model Schools 135 6.3 Later Ulster District Model Schools 138 6.4 Declining Roman Catholic support 140 6.5 Campaign for denominational system 143 PART THREE: THE MODEL SCHOOLS AND TEACHER EDUCATION Chapter 7 Selection of Junior Staff 157 ----------------- 7-1 T-heselection process 157 7.2 Economic difficulties encountered 165 7.3 Religious difficulties encountered 173 7.4 Conclusion 178 Chapter 8 Routine and Discipline 181 8.1 Internal discipline 181 8.2 External supervision 193 8.3 The role of the Press 200 Chapter 9 Training and Efficiency 207 9.1 The ‘mixed’ system 207 9.2 The course of training 214 9.3 The course of study 216 9.4 The ideological message 220 9.5 Practical preparation 223 9.6 Examination 226 9.7 Effectiveness of training 230 Chapter 10 Levels of Attachment and Attrition 240 10.1 Decline in proportion of trained teachers 240 10.2 Commitment of the practising teacher 242 10.3 Commitment of the candidate teacher 248 10.4 Clonmel - a case study 254 10.5 Evidence to the Powis Inquiry 258 Page Chapter 11 Conclusion 262 11.1 The Final Act: 1868-1883 262 11.2 The Status of the National Teacher: Social and Professional 265 11.3 Model Schools and Teacher Training 274 Bibliography 280 Tables, Figures and Plates Tables I District and minor model schools - cost of erection and furnishing, and date of opening 92 II Number and religious denomination of resident pupil teachers in 1867 178 m Teachers in the Board’s service in 1874 242 IV Vacancies in the teaching staff 1863-67 243 V Withdrawals from Board’s service 1874-80 245 VI Withdrawals and new posts 1872-83 246 VII Pupil teachers and paid monitors admitted toeach model school to 1867 249 Figures I Kildare Place Society trained teachers 1814-32 Breakdown by religious denomination 40 II K.P.S. trained teachers - Denominations by percentages 40 in K.P.S. trained teachers - Connacht 41 IV K.P.S. trained teachers - Leinster 41 V K.P.S. trained teachers - Munster 41 VI K.P.S. trained teachers - Ulster 42 Plates I Location of model schools 76 n - V Belfast District Model School: Facade 129 Ground Plan 130 Boys’ Schoolroom 131 Infants’ Schoolroom 131 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is not the least of my pleasures to acknowledge the assistance, encouragement and direction given me by many individuals, and the facilities and expertise made available to me by a number of institutions during the course of this study. Firstly, I wish to acknowledge the central role played by St. Patrick’s College, Its Millennium Scholarship grant provided a measure of financial independence that allowed me pursue a topic of study in the history of education I realised that had heretofore escaped attention. Of even greater importance was the willingness of Dr James Kelly to supervise my work. His enthusiasm for the subject, his familiarity with the historical context, his perceptive comments, and, not least, his personable manner, provided me with much-needed guidance and encouragement. I would also wish to thank the staffs of the various libraries and archival repositories where I have worked:- the director and staff of the National Library of Ireland, the director and staff of the National Archives of Ireland, and the librarian and staff of the Royal Irish Academy. In particular, I wish to record my gratitude to the librarian and staff of the Cregan Library, St. Patrick’s College, for their unfailing courtesy and helpfulness. Thanks are also due to a number of friends and colleagues: to the staff of Scoil Bhride: Ann, Annette, Celeste, Mai, Maura, Nora, Sadie, and especially Anne Doheny, my deputy principal. Together they ensured that the school functioned smoothly during my eight-month absence on study leave; to Proinnsias O Donnchadha - mo chigire scoile - for his encouragement, and not least for bringing to my notice Patrick Kennedy’s work, Legends of Mount Leinster, to my long-time friend William Murphy who, over the years, has been instrumental in directing my attention to different areas of research; and to another friend of many years, Mary O’Driscoll, who, throughout, maintained a constructive interest ” in the work, while her hospitality on many occasions allowed me to avail of the tranquil yet invigorating working environment that is Cape Clear; to my friend Paudie O’Riordan whose companionship showed that an overnight stay in Dublin could have its compensations; to my brother Ian, who fulfilled the role of the disinterested reader. For practical help and professional interest my sincere thanks are due to Prof. Philip Gulliver and Prof. Marilyn Silverman - to whom my skills as a researcher, such~as they may be, are in the greater part due. They willingly offered advice when asked, and I am singularly grateful to Philip who took the time to read this work and to offer much by way of helpful comment and direction. To my friend and colleague Frances Kennedy I owe a special debt of gratitude. She readily undertook the onerous and time-consuming task of reading the various drafts with a view to alerting me to my many literary shortcomings and, from her professional experience, of raising issues that might otherwise have escaped my notice. For this work I am deeply appreciative. Finally, my deepest gratitude is reserved for my family: to wife Cait, for her encouragement, her companionship, her willingness to undertake those additional household responsibilites arising from dereliction on my part, and, not least, her financial wizardry during the straitened period of my study leave; to Aine, Sean and Liam, my thanks is due for their attitude of resignation and, at other times, for the pressure they brought to bear on me to take a break! Abstract A study of model school preparatory training institutes in mid-nineteenth-century Ireland involves, by way of background, tracing government awareness of the need for regulation and training of teachers. This stemmed from concern that education - then viewed as a powerful agent for either good or evil - be in the hands of those whose loyalty was beyond question and who were capable of effectively imparting it. The alarm with which the rapidly increasing number of ‘hedge’ schools was viewed by the authorities and the degree of suspicion in which their teachers were held made this a most pressing matter. More immediately, this study seeks to examine the rationale behind the favouring by the National Board of Education of the model school matrix for teacher training as developed by the Kildare Place Society, to detail the problems that had to be addressed in order to put in place a country-wide network of model schools, and, primarily, to assess the impact of these schools as preparatory training institutes. From its inception in 1831 the Board was anxious to raise the standard of teaching and teacher in all schools connected with it. From the last quarter of the eighteenth century, government disquiet over the rising demand for elementary education and its perceived potential to destabilise society prompted the search for a regulatory body that would oversee the development of an extensive school network under an acceptable system of local management, offering a curriculum that would, on the one hand, satisfy the demand of the masses, and, on the other, promote satisfaction with their lot. In this scheme of things the role of the teacher was seen as crucial. Government confidence in the voluntary Kildare Place Society to superintend such a network proved to be misplaced. An illiberal stance on the part of a controlling element within the Society led to a fuelling of religious suspicions.
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