Archbishop Carr and Catholic education: the attitude and response to the Registration of Teachers and Schools Act 1905

Deposited with permission of the author. © 1993 Patrick Michael LinehanThe late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw significant changes in education in Victoria, both in the State system of education and in the denominational systems. This thesis analyses the introduction of the Registration of Teachers and School Act of 1905 and its effect on Catholic education, with particular emphasis on the role of Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne T.J. Carr. It briefly outlines the Catholic response to the Education Act of 1872, and the period of upheaval that followed the loss of State aid for education in denominational schools. That Catholic schools survived in the tumultuous decades following the Education Act of 1872 was largely due to the autonomous nature of the many Catholic communities scattered around Victoria, and the drive and energy of the parish priests and committed communities of Nuns and Brothers who tended the education of Catholic children. They were assisted by the financial generosity of many parishioners. With the Royal Commission on Technical Education 1899-1901 recommending changes that would inevitably involve Catholic teachers and schools, Archbishop Carr initiated approaches to the training of Catholic teachers and Catholic communities that required greater uniformity. Religious orders were to maintain their individuality in many respects; however, the Registration Act of 1905 compelled teachers to obtain certain qualifications to be eligible to register as teachers. In response Archbishop Carr directed the amalgamation of houses with various orders of Sisters, and opened a number of teacher training colleges for novices and the laity. Finally, this thesis covers the two to three years following the introduction of the 1905 Act, when Archbishop Carr was involved in a drawn out struggle with the Teachers and Schools Registration Board and the Government, over the lack of parity between teacher training requirements fir the State systems and the denominational systems. During this time there was a significant degree of politicking from a number of source, including the Catholic Church, with the media used as an important tool for relaying of information that was generally partisan in nature