The Victorian Headmaster: Biographical Research into an Emerging Profession

Abstract

Headmaster only became a viable career option in England during the nineteenth century - and this study of professional identity and professionalizing education aims to find unifying features in the life stories of four pioneering and prominent Victorian headmasters. While teachers had already established their vocation during the eighteenth century, professional headship only became a necessity when the demands of the middle classes fuelled a boom in public schooling and a subsequent increase in the schools’ sizes. The popular schools had to be run efficiently and profitably by men and women of reputation, charisma and energy. Within a few years the stereotype of the omnipotent, slightly eccentric headmaster was firmly established – overall much faster than a professional code or even an agreement of the head’s official role in school and community. It will be concluded here that individual careers mattered greatly at the time of schooling’s anarchic growth, since the new professionals needed role models for the definition of a professional standard. The biographies show that commercially successful schools had to provide education beyond subject teaching: a clearly defined school ethos and morale proved to be as important as academic performance. The research also shows that the headmasters under investigation greatly relied on their predecessors for guidance and the establishment of privileges, duties and codes of conduct.