Women Workers in Seven Professions Part 4

Head Teachers. a.s.sistant Teachers.

Men. Women. Men. Women.

Under 50 1 2 2 352 Totals 50 and under 100 394 4,967 3,838 29,915 " 100 " " 150 4,506 8,032 9,933 15,548 " 150 " " 200 3,575 2,631 3,651 1,065 " 200 " " 250 2,395 742 1,235 1 " 250 " " 300 963 209 ---- ---- " 300 " " 350 422 65 ---- ---- " 350 " " 400 125 ---- ---- ---- " 400 " " 450 93 ---- ---- ---- " 450 " " 500 2 ---- ---- ---- " 560 1 ---- ---- ----

IV. The salaries of uncertificated teachers are usually lower than the wage of a skilled artisan--the average for men _head_ teachers being below 100, and for women _head_ teachers below 70, whilst 7,855 a.s.sistant teachers receive less than 50.

V. Supplementary teachers usually receive, of course without board or lodging, a salary equal to the money-wage of an average domestic servant. They are commonly less well qualified than is she, for the work undertaken.

The chances of promotion to a headship are obviously so few, that the certificated teacher will probably remain an a.s.sistant all her life.

Chances of head-teacherships are being still further reduced by the amalgamation of departments under a head _master_.

In the schools of many large urban education authorities, less than 1 per cent. of the a.s.sistant teachers obtain promotion in twelve months.

The total number applying for the 163 places to be filled in the last promotion list that was formed by the London Education Authority, was 2,337, so that, as a direct result of the publication of that list, 2,174 teachers resumed their work after the summer vacation of 1911 with feelings of less hopefulness with regard to their future prospects. The issue of a promotion list is in itself a fact to be deplored, seeing that it acts as a check to mental alertness. For the 2,174 unsuccessful candidates for inclusion, their application has now either destroyed hope, or suspended any chances of its realisation for at least two years. There is a consciousness in the unsuccessful applicant of somehow being worth less than she was before, since she is now an a.s.sistant mistress without potentiality for head teachership. This feeling does not promote good work. The issue of a promotion list is from every point of view bad policy, and although its direct action is confined to London, its sphere of indirect influence is very far-reaching, since London County Council applicants for country posts are often asked whether they have been included in it.

The essential qualification in a mistress of an elementary school is ability to teach a great variety of subjects: she must be qualified for and prepared to teach all the subjects which make up the curriculum of her school. The diversity of these will be seen from the subjects taught in an average typical elementary school:--

_Girls' Department_.--Reading, writing, arithmetic, English grammar, literature, history, geography, nature study, hygiene, physical training, drawing (including brush-work), needlework (including cutting-out), knitting, scripture.

_Infants' Department_.--Reading, writing, number, kindergarten and other varied occupations, physical exercises (dancing and games), needlework and knitting, singing, drawing, painting, modelling, recitation, oral composition, dramatising stories, scripture.

The ordinary day is divided into two sessions: the morning session lasting from 9 A.M. to 12 noon, and the afternoon session from 2 P.M.

to 4 P.M. (infants), 4.30 P.M. (girls).

The strain of a teacher's life in an elementary school, and the deadening influence of routine work will be realised when it is stated that, besides teaching all the subjects above-mentioned, she is in front of her cla.s.s of sixty pupils during the whole of the two sessions each day, from Monday morning to Friday afternoon.

In addition to the purely teaching work the mistress has to take her share in the various activities which are now centring in the school--Care Committees, After-Care Committees, the feeding of necessitous children, the cleansing of children, medical inspection, and so forth. There are also such social activities as old girls'

clubs, school journeys and school parties, in which she has to co-operate; finally, the strain is not lessened by the fact that she has to satisfy two sets of inspectors, viz., those of the Board of Education and those of the local authority who require her to keep special report books, varying in character and in the amount of detail required, according to the idiosyncrasies of the particular inspectors who may happen to be allocated to her district.

In spite of the building regulations of the Board of Education, many school premises are far from satisfactory with regard to lighting, ventilation, construction, and often even cleanliness; these defects naturally have their effect on the health of the teachers, so that notwithstanding medical inspection during training and the rejection of the unfit, an alarming number of cases of consumption has been reported to the Benevolent Fund of the National Union of Teachers.

In addition to this, the strain (already referred to) under which teachers in the Metropolitan and larger urban districts work, is resulting in an increasing number of nervous breaksdown.

The conditions under which a teacher works in a school in a rural district are so unsatisfactory that they deserve special mention.

There are 245 schools in Wales and 2,199 in England with an average attendance of less than 40; such schools are staffed by a head teacher, a.s.sisted, in all probability, only by a supplementary teacher. Education suffers in these circ.u.mstances as a result of the number and the manysidedness of the responsibilities which devolve upon the head teacher; while the consciousness of her inability to realise her ideals will re-act unfavourably upon her health. Another factor that must be borne in mind is that these rural schools, being small, should, to secure efficiency, be proportionately expensive for up-keep. In order to keep the cost of maintenance as low as possible, however, the remuneration offered to teachers in rural schools is so small as to be a national disgrace. To this must be further added the fact that many rural teachers are compelled to live 5, 10, and even 15 miles away from a railway station, so that the cost of living is much more than it would be in town. Thus it is that rural schools which should cost more for up-keep than large urban schools, work out at a smaller figure per scholar.[7]

Not only is her salary low, but a mistress in a rural school often has to live in a state of semi-isolation from social and intellectual activities. It should excite no surprise, therefore, that mistresses are reluctant to apply for such posts. This difficulty of shortage of supply is having a sinister and subtle effect on the economic interests of married women teachers, for, owing to the difficulty in obtaining a.s.sistant teachers in rural districts, it frequently happens that where the head teacher is a master, his wife, who may be a fully qualified certificated teacher, has to act as his a.s.sistant and receive the pay of a supplementary teacher.

During her years of service, each mistress in an elementary school is required to contribute 2, 8s. per annum to the Government Superannuation Fund. These contributions purchase a small annuity to which the Government add a pension at the rate of 10s. for each year of service. When she becomes qualified for a pension, the mistress must surrender her certificate and cease to practise as a teacher, so that, if we a.s.sume she has begun work at the age of twenty and has continued teaching to the age of sixty-five, she will, after forty-five years of recorded service, receive a pension of 22, 10s. per annum, plus the annuity which her contributions will have purchased. It should, however, be mentioned that London and a few other towns have established complementary schemes whereby teachers, though contributing more, obtain pensions more commensurate with their salaries. Under the Government scheme, the superannuation allowance cannot become payable until the teacher has attained the age of sixty-five years, and, even then, it can be obtained only by a teacher whose years of recorded service are not less than half the number of years which have elapsed since she became certificated; thus, if the mistress, being certificated at the age of twenty, marries and, by the regulations of the local authority, is forced to resign, she forfeits all claim to the Government contribution, unless she has completed twenty-two years of recorded service: nor are her contributions returned to her.

Teachers in elementary schools are well organised for the purpose of self-protection. The National Union of Teachers is a powerful body, having a membership of 78,000 men and women teachers. It is directly represented in Parliament, both on the Liberal and Labour sides, and owes its influence largely to the voting power of its members.[8]

When the National Insurance Act of 1912 came into force, there were 85,000 elementary teachers to whom its clauses applied, and who therefore found it advisable to join an approved society. For this purpose the Teachers' Provident Society of the National Union of Teachers was re-organised as an approved society under the Act. In addition to providing protection for its members, the National Union of Teachers, by means of its Benevolent and Orphan Fund, helps those, who, through ill-health or other causes are in need of a.s.sistance.

It also maintains two orphanages--one for boys in London, and one for girls in Sheffield.

At the present time there is a strong probability of a dearth of qualified teachers for elementary schools in the near future. There are several factors which have been influential in bringing about this state of affairs--one is, the uncertainty of employment, even after a long and comparatively costly training. This defect will be remedied only when a rational method of regulating the supply of teachers is established, so that each candidate may be certain that, if she qualifies, she will be guaranteed employment.

Many desirable persons are debarred from entering the teaching profession, because the rate of remuneration is low, considering the responsibility of the work; and this drawback is still further emphasised by the very inadequate pension which is offered at the close of the teacher's career. This difficulty can be overcome only when the main burden of the cost of education is removed from local taxation and placed on the national exchequer.

Another factor which tends to make the teaching profession unattractive, is the very strenuous life which it entails under modern conditions. Again, so far as women are concerned, there is not complete security of tenure, though apart from the regulation that obtains under some local authorities, requiring women to resign on marriage, teachers in elementary schools, owing to the efforts of their various organisations, possess far greater security of tenure than teachers in any other branch of the profession. Another point in favour of the teachers in elementary schools, is their freedom from the burden of extraneous duties, and from the nightmare of external examinations.

When schools can be more generously staffed, so that, for example, the number of a.s.sistant teachers exceeds the number of cla.s.ses to be taught, a good deal will have been done to relieve the strain under which teachers are at present working.

Finally, when education authorities and the public generally, become sufficiently enlightened to realise that it is uneconomical to dismiss a teacher when she marries _i.e._, when by her experience she is most capable of preparing her pupils for life--then women will be encouraged to enter the teaching profession, and to realise that they must equip themselves as well as possible for what is to be their life-work.

[Footnote 1: In this connection, the work of the Care-Committees, now an integral feature of the elementary education system, must not be forgotten. It will be fully considered in a later volume of this series. [EDITOR.]]

[Footnote 2: The conditions for registration were issued on 22nd November 1913, after this book had gone to press. [EDITOR.]]

[Footnote 3: _Vide_ Article on Education in Ireland, by May Starkie in _The New Statesman Supplement_ on "The Awakening of Ireland," 12th July 1913. [EDITOR.]]

[Footnote 4: Since this paper was written, a fresh report (Code 6707) has been published by the Board of Education. The statistical tables do not materially differ from those given above.]

[Footnote 5: On the other hand, the Board seldom proceeds against teachers who have broken their bond. [Editor.]]

[Footnote 6: The experiment of ending the College course for certain students at Easter, is now being made. But the movement is too young, and the Colleges experimenting are too few, to make it possible to draw deductions. At any rate it looks like a move in the right direction.]

[Footnote 7: This is a matter, the investigation of which should be included in Mr Lloyd George's Land Campaign. There is an obvious connection between the status of the agricultural labourer and the inefficiency of rural schools. [EDITOR.]]

[Footnote 8: The women members are in a large majority, but, being women, do not, as yet, possess the vote. Their peculiar interests, of course, do not obtain representation.]

V

TEACHING IN SCHOOLS FOR THE MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY DEFECTIVE

The particular branch of teaching which forms the subject of this paper--namely, that carried on in schools for mentally or physically defective children--affords scope for a lifetime of very happy work to women who are really fitted for it.

The qualifications required by teachers in these schools are the ordinary certificates accepted by the Board of Education, but, in practice, a preference is given to women who have taken up studies which bear on their particular work. For instance, it is obvious that a good grounding in psychology, physiology, and hygiene is especially valuable in schools of this description, and proofs of the successful study of these subjects undoubtedly carry weight in deciding appointments to these schools. Also, it is unusual to appoint young teachers, coming straight from Training Colleges, with very little practical experience in dealing with children, though under special circ.u.mstances such appointments are occasionally made. The large majority of women appointed to the London mentally defective or physically defective schools are, however, teachers of several years'

standing, who are also under the age limit of thirty-five.

The salary of a.s.sistant teachers in the London special schools is 10 a year more than the salary such a.s.sistants would be getting in the ordinary Council schools. This extra pay only obtains until the normal maximum salary of a.s.sistant mistresses is reached, _i.e._, 150, so that the monetary advantage is confined to reaching the maximum a little earlier than would otherwise be the case. With regard to head teachers, the extra salary varies with the size of the school, 10 being allowed for a one-cla.s.s centre, 20 for a two-, three-, or four-cla.s.s centre, and 30 for a five- or six-cla.s.s centre. Schools of six cla.s.ses are unusual; the majority of schools contain three or four cla.s.ses. Elder mentally defective boys from several neighbouring schools are frequently grouped together in a special centre under masters, and there are a few schools specially for elder mentally defective girls, naturally under mistresses. For elder physically defective girls there are centres in London where they may be specially trained in blousemaking and fine needlework. These centres have, in addition to an ordinary teacher, a trade mistress duly qualified in the particular branch of work undertaken. The age of compulsory retirement from teaching in special schools is sixty-five, as in the case of ordinary schools. For both branches of the service married women are eligible. The hours of work in mentally defective schools are from 9.30 to 12 and from 2 to 4. In physically defective schools the hours are nominally from 9.30 to 12, and 1.30 to 3, but in practice they are longer, as the children begin to arrive at school in their ambulances by 8.45, and in the afternoon the last children rarely leave till an hour after the time of stopping actual lessons.

It is usual to arrange things so that the teacher who comes "early"

one week, is free to come "late" the next, and it is also usually taken in turns to stay late in the afternoons. The short dinner recess is due to the fact that most of the children necessarily have their dinner at school, so there is no reason to allow the usual two hours for going home and coming back. During the dinner-hour the children are in charge of the school nurse and the ambulance attendants.

Work in both sorts of special school has its own particular difficulties. One great drawback is the impossibility of adequate cla.s.sification. In a small three-cla.s.s centre, there will be children from five years old up to sixteen years. That, of course, in physically defective schools means that the work usually divided among all the cla.s.ses of an ordinary infant school must be done in the lowest cla.s.s, the second cla.s.s must take the work of standards I. to III., while the highest cla.s.s must take that of standards IV. to VII. It is true that the special schools have a great advantage over ordinary schools in that the cla.s.ses never contain more than twenty-five children, but even granted the small numbers, the need for taking several groups in a cla.s.s makes the work very exhausting. The more successful the teacher, that is to say, the more truly she draws out the individual powers of each child, the harder does her work become, for she tends more and more to have a cla.s.s of children working at varying stages. In the mentally defective schools it is not possible to reach the work of the higher standards, so that there is not the _same_ difficulty, but there is the even greater one of dealing with different standards of defect, instead of different standards of attainment.

Another difficulty encountered in the physically defective schools is the interrupted school-life. Children will frequently drop out for three months, six months, or a year at a time in order to have some operation performed in hospital, or to go to a convalescent home, or because of an attack of illness. Both branches of the special schools are faced with the peculiar difficulty of the "spoilt" child--the lame girl who, by reason of her helplessness, has been indulged and waited on by the healthy members of her family; the ill-balanced boy whose brain-storms have been so disturbing that any opposition to his will has been shirked. It must not be thought that these children are in the majority at special schools, but they do form a certain proportion of the children there; they give much trouble, and they call for a great deal of tact and patience. Patience is so continually needed in special-school work that women who are not particularly patient would find themselves definitely unfit for it. Indeed, although patience and the hopeful spirit do not figure on the list of qualifications demanded of candidates, they might well head it, for most certainly an irritable or despondent woman could not find any work for which she was more unsuited, or in which she was more likely to be miserable and unsuccessful.

A further difficulty of the special-school teacher lies in the "all-round" demands made on her. The children she must teach, are defective in mind or body, or both. Some will respond to one subject, some to another; some will make poor progress with headwork, but will do excellent handwork. The teacher must be able to help each child along its own path, and must be familiar with the various forms of simple handwork as well as with the more usual school subjects.

Basket-weaving, clay-modelling, raffia-work, fretwork, bent-ironwork, strip-woodwork, rug-making, painting, and brush-work, as well as different forms of needlework and embroidery, are all branches of handwork helpful in different degrees to these children.

The importance of handwork to them is felt so keenly, that the special-schools time-tables usually show a morning devoted to headwork followed by an afternoon occupied by handwork.

But as well as the difficulties attendant on teaching in special-schools, there are some very real advantages. Foremost, perhaps, is the opportunity it affords of knowing and understanding each child in a way that is not possible when the cla.s.s consists of sixty children. Very closely allied with this, is the great advantage of freedom in the preparation of syllabuses, in the choice of subject matter and the manner of teaching it. Time-tables must be approved by the proper authorities, and the superintendents and inspectors must be satisfied as to the character of a teacher's work, but, when those conditions are fulfilled, originality on the part of teachers is welcomed, and completely happy relations between teacher and children are possible. It can be readily understood that with a cla.s.s numbering twenty-five, each child can take a much larger and much more active share in the work, can be free to express his own views, ask his own questions and work out his own ideas in a way impossible with a cla.s.s of sixty. When, in addition, it is remembered that the teacher is free to frame her plans of work according to the actual needs of the children, as shown to her through discussions and questions, the reason why the work attracts women in spite of its obvious difficulties is apparent.

The real thought and care spent by the education authorities on these schools must have struck every one who has worked in them. If we compare what is now done for these deficient children with what was done some fifteen years ago, the stage of progress at which we have arrived is nothing short of wonderful. Yet every one must also be convinced that things are not well, so long as the supply of children for these special schools continues to grow; those who work in them can see two ways in which that supply might be checked. Teachers in mentally defective schools continually mourn the sad fact that the children under their care have been guarded from wrong, and guided to right along happy paths of busy interest until they are sixteen, only to be turned adrift into the world at an age when, more than ever before in their lives, they need a kindly and wise influence "to strengthen or control." For want of some further plan of continued supervision, the patient work of years is too often rendered nugatory, and the child slips back into the very slough from which the school had hoped to save it. It must be remembered that the defect in many children in these mentally defective schools shows itself as a lack of self-control, a want of mental balance, a missing sense of moral values, an incapacity for concentration--the very characteristics which render their unhappy possessors the easiest prey to the evil-minded. Teachers who know both the good to which the child can attain when properly safe-guarded, and also the evil into which it will too probably fall when left alone, are very anxious to see some step taken which will ensure that every child who needs continued control shall have it.[1]