College of Teachers

The College of Teachers
Formation February 1846
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Patron
 HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
Honorary President
 Professor Raphael Wilkins, EdD
Chief Executive & Registrar
 Professor Angela McFarlane PhD
Website www.collegeofteachers.ac.uk

The College of Teachers is an examining body and learned society of teachers, professors and associated professionals who work in education in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In 2010 HRH The Duke of Edinburgh was appointed Patron.

The College was originally founded as the Society of Teachers in 1846 and incorporated by royal charter as The College of Preceptors in 1849. It changed its name to The College of Teachers in 1998.

The College initially awarded qualifications for secondary school teachers and pupils. Today the college provides qualifications for teachers or trainers and professionals working in education including teaching assistants, governors and anyone else who is operating in a support capacity to teachers or trainers.[1] It is a registered charity under the Charity Commission.

The College published The Educational Times from 1847 to 1923. Today, the College publishes the quarterly academic journal Education Today.

The College is currently based within the Institute of Education of the University of London.

History

The College was founded in 1846 by a group of private schoolmasters from Brighton who were concerned about standards within their profession. A provisional committee was set up in early 1846 under the chairmanship of Henry Stein Turrell (1815-1863), principal of the Montpelier House School in Brighton. After meetings in London and Brighton a general meeting was called for 20 June 1846 at the Freemason's Tavern in Great Queen Street. Some 300 schoolmasters attended, some 60 members enrolled and founding resolutions passed, including:

That in the opinion of this meeting, it is desirable for the protection of the interests of both the scholastic profession and the public, that some proof of qualification, both as to the amount of knowledge and the art of conveying it to others, should be required, from and after a certain time to be hereinafter specified, of all persons who may be desirous of entering the profession; and that the test, in the first instance, should be applied to Assistant Masters only.
That in the opinion of this meeting, the test of qualification should be referred to a legally authorized or corporate body, or college, consisting of persons engaged in tuition.
That for the purpose of effecting this object - viz., the formation of a corporate body -- the members of the profession who enrol their names at this meeting, do resolve themselves, and are hereby resolved, into the College of Preceptors; and that those persons now enrolled, shall incur no liability beyond the amount of their respective annual subscriptions.
That a Council, consisting of the members of the Provisional Committee, with power to add to their number, be now appointed for the purpose of conducting the business of the institution, and that Mr Turrell be appointed President of the Council.

[2] [3] [4]

The college created a system for the formal examination and qualification of secondary school teachers. It was also one of the first bodies to examine and provide certificates for secondary school pupils of both sexes, from all over England and Wales, in a wide variety of subjects.[5]

During the 1870s, the College helped to establish education as a subject worthy of study at university level, resulting in the appointment of Joseph Payne as the first Professor of Education. Frances Buss (1827–1894) and Sir John Adams (1857–1934) were also connected to the College. During the 1950s the college pioneered management training schemes for teachers (at the time these were known as school administration courses).

Membership designations

The College has over the years had various membership designations or post-nominals. These have included:

Membership and subscription-based post-nominals before 1999;

In 1999, this membership structure changed to the following post-nominals:

Full Fellowship in the College is based on the following criteria:

Fellows must also be promoted by two current Fellows of the College. Fellows were allowed to retain their more historical FCollP designation or change to the newer post-nominal.

Qualifications and accreditation

The College has also been instrumental in the recognition of many noted national and international educators. These people have been inducted into the school's Honorary Fellow Charter (Hon FCP). There are over 150 charter fellows including: G.H. Read, William G. Carr, John M. Rhoads, The Baroness Platt of Writtle, Sir Brynmor Jones and Zoya Malkova, Dr Antony Miller, Ulrich-Johannes Kledzik, John Simpson, Christine Gilbert, Robin Alexander and George Browne Rego (Lindgren, 1993).

At present, as in the past, the College has provided both an examining facility as well as an educational membership society. According to its original charter of 1849, the College of Preceptors (now the College of Teachers) is empowered to award qualifications in various areas of teacher training. The college's qualifications include the Associateship (ACP), degree level Licentiateship (LCP) and the Fellowship (FCP) (Lindgren, 1991). The Fellowship was awarded for a 25,000 - 50,000 word dissertation.

In 1999, the college renamed many of its diploma post-nominals, redesigning the award system as follows:

The FCoT, like the earlier FCP (research equivalent to a MPhil in education), is awarded for original research. The new qualification is also awarded for a series of published articles or an original work in the field of educational studies.

Two foundation qualifications also exist which carry no post-nominal designations:

The college also offers qualifications in TESOL at the following levels:

TESOL courses are offered through Centres for which they have gained accreditation from the College.

Lady Plowden Memorial Medal

In 2009 the College of Teachers created a medal which may be awarded to key figures within education. It was named after Lady Bridget Plowden, who was a previous President of the College of Preceptors. Plowden was the first female president of the college. She was proposed for the dedication and her contribution to primary education through the Plowden report of 1967.

Publications

Journals

Books

Primary sources

The archives of the College of Preceptors/College of Teachers are held in the archives of the Institute of Education, University of London and the full catalogue can be found online here.

Notable members and staff

Other sources

References

  1. ↑ College of Teachers (2007). "Overview of Qualifications". Archived from the original on 2008-03-10. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
  2. ↑ Aldrich, Richard (16 May 2012). School and Society in Victorian Britain: Joseph Payne and the New World of Education. Routledge. pp. 96–98. ISBN 978-0415686532.
  3. ↑ "College of Preceptors". UCL Bloomsbury Project. UCL. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  4. ↑ Ashton, Rosemary (2012). Victorian Bloomsbury. Yale University Press. pp. 454–46. ISBN 978-0300154474.
  5. ↑ "Institute of Education Archives: DC/COP Records of the College of Preceptors.". Institute of Education. Retrieved 2009-04-01.

External links

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