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In 1843 a major controversy
in the Church of Scotland led to the Disruption. 470 Ministers from
the General Assembly, more than one third of the total, left to set
up the new Free
Church of Scotland. Fund raising enabled many Free Churches
to be established across Scotland. Following
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the Disruption over 400 teachers in church schools joined the
Free Church. The Superintendent of the Edinburgh Normal School and Sessional
and, Thomas Oliphant (1840-1846), together with all his students
except seven joined the Free Church. At first the school had to take temporary
accommodation in Carruber’s Close off the High Street before it moved
to the rooms under the Music Hall entered from Rose Street. To provide permanent
accommodation the Free Church drew up plans for a new Normal School in Spittal
Street, but before the foundation stone could be laid it was realised that
the funds available would be insufficient to complete the building work.
Moray
House buildings in the Canongate (1846)
At this time the buildings in the Canongate known as Moray
House (pictured above) came onto
the market. In October 1846 the Free Church, through it’s Education
Committee convened by Dr Candlish, acquired Moray House and its grounds for £2,862.
The house had to be adapted to its new purpose including a new extension
built on the north east side of the gardens. The total cost of the project
amounted to £8,600. The Privy Council of the government contributed £3000
towards the cost and the rest was defrayed, as Dr Candlish reported, by ‘the
more wealthy and more generous members of the [free] church.’ The Free
Church of Scotland’s Normal and Sessional School opened on 13
September
1848 with the Rector, James
Fulton (1847-1855) leading the children
and students down the High Street to their new premises in the Canongate.
This was to be the start of over 150 years of teacher training based at Moray
House.
The school followed the pattern of the time with a large ‘model’ school
and an associated Normal School for those students training as teachers.
The student teachers were usually personally recommended and certificated
by a local minister and had to be able to pay their fees. The Edinburgh
Normal and Sessional School was co-educational non -residential, although
at first the majority of student teachers were men. A Diploma was introduced
and awarded after a minimum of one year’s attendance. Students had
to pass an examination conducted by members of the church’s Education
Committee. Moray House’s first diplomas were awarded in 1850. However,
this arrangement was later replaced by examinations and Certificates organised
by the government.
With the loss in 1843 of its staff and most of its students the Church
of Scotland’s teacher training arrangements faced a period
of uncertainty. However, the General Assembly’s Education Committee
made it clear that “they will be able still to carry into execution
the plan both for the establishment of the Glasgow Normal School and the
erection of a Normal School in Edinburgh….”. The plans for
the building of the new school in Johnston Terrace were put into effect
and the Church
of Scotland Normal and Sessional School was opened on 19 May 1845.
Teacher Training and the Church of Scotland:
The Disruption of 1843 resulted in a period of uncertainty for the Church
of Scotland’s teacher training in Edinburgh. However, the General
Assembly’s Education Committee made it clear that ‘they will
be able still to carry into execution the plan both for the establishment
of the Glasgow Normal School and the erection of a Normal School in Edinburgh….’ The
plans for the building of the new school in Johnston Terrace were put into
effect and the Church of Scotland’s Normal and Sessional School was
opened on 19 May 1845. The cost of the project was £8,500 of which
the government contributed £4,000. However, within ten years the
new premises had proved inadequate and an additional building was opened
in 1879 in Chambers Street. The original Johnston Terrace accommodation
was converted to a practising School, with 638 pupils in its first session.
The Rev Manson acted as Rector until 1845 when the Rev. George Davidson
was appointed. He served until 1853 at which time the Rev. Dr. James Currie
became Rector. After a long and successful tenure Currie retired in 1886.
He was much respected by his students and a Currie Club was established
in his honour together with an annual Currie memorial prize. Peter Mackinlay
followed as Rector (1886 – 1903) and finally Alexander Morgan was
appointed in 1903.
Following the establishment of the Edinburgh Provincial Committee (EPC)
in 1907 Alexander Morgan became the first Principal of the united Edinburgh
Provincial Training Centre. Both the United Free Church and the Church
of Scotland agreed to pass all their training assets to the new EPC: buildings,
land and equipment. The Church of Scotland’s women students in Edinburgh
transferred to the Moray House site in 1907, whilst the male students went
at first to Johnston Terrace before transferring.
The increasing role of the government in teacher training is reflected
in the Council of Education’s Minutes for 1846 introducing
a national
pupil - teacher scheme. Schools could select
from their most promising thirteen year old students those most likely
to be able to undertake an apprenticeship of up to five years duration.
During the day they would follow the school’s curriculum and then
receive additional instruction outside school hours on the art of teaching
from staff appointed for this purpose. The most able students, selected
through a competitive examination, were awarded a Queen’s Scholarship.
Successful male students were awarded a grant of £25 and female students
two thirds of this. These grants supported their maintenance at the Normal
School. The
school’s curriculum at
this time was a broad one and included subjects such as drawing
and music. At the end of their course the students would take an examination
in both general and professional subjects conducted by Her Majesty’s
Inspectors. The achievement of a Leaving Certificate carried with it an
enhanced salary funded by the government.
The Early Curriculum of the Free Church of Scotland
Normal School Edinburgh:
The earliest record in the Moray House Archive is the Progress Register dating
from 1849/50. This Register lists the men and women students who were undertaking
the then diploma course.
The entry for each student in 1849/50 includes the following information:
Attendance: number of times absent
Attention to Studies: comment such as regular/occasionally/absent
Religious Knowledge: mark out of 100 plus a comment
English Reading: written comment
English Spelling: number of spelling errors plus a comment
English Grammar and Composition: mark out of 100 plus a comment
Geography: mark out of 100 plus a comment
History: mark out of 100 plus a comment
Penmanship: mark out of 100 plus a comment
Arithmetic: Mark out of 100 plus a comment
French: mark out of 100 plus a comment (not every student studied this subject)
Vocal Music: mark out of 100 plus a comment
Drawing: A+ to C plus comment
Algebra: mark out of 100 plus a comment
Geometry: mark out of 100 plus a comment
Trigonometry: mark out of 100 plus a comment
Papers and answers at examination - mark out of 1200
Skill in Teaching: comment such as: promising/considerable/fair
General Conduct: comment such as exemplary/correct/becoming
Some students were awarded a Diploma whilst others continued to next session.
Whilst not initially welcomed (‘it assumed a child could do two
exacting things at once’), the pupil - teacher scheme, especially
for elementary school teachers, was an improvement on the previous monitorial
model, guaranteeing a minimum level of personal knowledge and achievement
of recognised teaching skills. Certificated teachers were able to organise
and teach the large number of children in sessional and subscription schools.
The Normal Schools were funded by the government for the number of teachers
they produced and the Free Church Normal Schools, in particular, responded
positively to the increasing need for more teachers at this time. By 1857
the number of students in Scottish Training Colleges (Normal Schools) had
increased to over 500, with a third of these women. A positive HMI
Report on the Free Church Normal College at Moray House in
1858 noted that two large lecture rooms and the three class rooms had recently
been opened to accommodate this increase in student numbers.
 HMI
Report of the Edinburgh Free Church Normal College for 1858
The success of students
in their final examinations depended in part on the knowledge and skills
of the teaching staff. In 1853 the government introduced payments to
those Normal School lecturers who could pass an examination in a designated
subject. On passing they would be paid an additional £100
on top of their £150 salary. There was some concern that ‘lecturer’ implied
a concentration on academic work rather than on the practical training.
However, James
Sime, Rector
of the Edinburgh Normal School (1855-1864), reassured doubters: “lecturers
lecture and also show students how to impart knowledge…”.
In 1858 the regular curriculum of the Normal Schools was extended to two
years by regulation, with training ending in December instead of June.
To qualify for their ‘parchment’ students, in addition to their
Leaving Certificate, had to undertake a further two years of work teaching
in a school. The final grade obtained depended on both their examination
performance and the report of the HMI on their schoolwork.
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This new system of teacher training began to have
a major effect on Scottish education. Newly qualified and certificated
teachers were sought after and reasonably well paid. Their training
gave them a wider knowledge than many parish schoolteachers previously
and this in turn enabled them to teach a broader curriculum to children.
The link with the churches was also lessening with increased government
funding and the abolition of the need for teachers to sign the Confession
of Faith.
In 1864 Maurice
Paterson was appointed Rector of Moray House, a role
that he performed with distinction until he retired in 1907.
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on to Part 4
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or read more about Fulton, Sime, Currie and
Paterson
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