ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the intense process of formation that prepared a new member of Dominican congregation for life as a Catholic Sister-teacher in the years from 1871 to 1965. Issues such as authority and power relations are evident in religious formation and teacher training practices that prepared Sisters to transmit the Catholic faith and to reproduce Catholic cultural and religious practices. The chapter presents the result of a study undertaken in 2013 in Ireland and New Zealand that explored the contribution of Catholic Sisters to the development of New Zealand education system. Oral accounts of the Sister-teachers who entered religious life in the years 1931 to 1959 illuminate a tightly scheduled life in the hierarchical world of convent and the role of a senior Sister as supervisor and support. Primary Sister-teachers studied for their Teacher's Certificate by correspondence and those who showed academic potential were selected to undertake university studies to provide qualified teachers for the rapidly expanding secondary schools.
