ABSTRACT
On 12 June 1878 a group of Oxbridge educators, representing the newly formed Teacher Training Syndicate, released the results of the circular they had gathered. They had questioned leading educators of the nation whether ‘it [would be] expedient that measures should be taken by the university for the preparation and examination of Teachers’.1 The results of their survey suggested that an interest existed, and they recommended to the Senate ‘that lectures should be given, and an examination held by the university on the theory, history and practice of Teaching, and that certificates of proficiency should be given by the University on the results of the examinations’.2 To the Senate, they reported:
[The circulars] find a decided preponderance of opinion in favour of some kind of University action in the theoretical part of the training of teachers; with regard to University action in the practical part of the training they find less agreement.3
