ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an account of the development of teacher education in Newfoundland and Labrador. It examines the early attempts of the various Christian denominations to establish independent religious schools on the island of Newfoundland and look at how teachers functioned in such schools. The chapter also traces how successive governments, beginning in the nineteenth century, attempted to formalize a system of public education and review significant events in the development of formal teacher education programs. It then examines educational developments in the post-confederation period, concluding with a few observations on teacher education in twenty-first century Newfoundland and Labrador. A number of catalysts paved the way for the establishment of separate, denominational school systems in Newfoundland. The curriculum of the charity schools was broader and more secular. In addition to religious instruction, the curriculum had a decidedly practical orientation—reading, spelling and writing, mathematics, navigation, sewing, and other industrial/domestic skills.
