School and education history in Victoria

History and statistics

• See the Histories tab of this guide.
• See  Statistics tab of this guide.
• Browse subject search results for Teachers -- Victoria. 

Some titles:

• Australian teachers from colonial schoolmasters to militant professionals / editor: A.D. Spaull.
• Matters of conscience : a history of the Victorian Secondary Teachers Association / Jan Bassett.
• Resignations and retirements of classified teachers 1972-1975.

Teacher training

• Browse subject searches results for: Teachers -- Victoria -- Periodicals
• The Trainee (1907-1972), a journal published by Melbourne Teachers' College.

Biographies

• Browse subject search results for Teachers -- Victoria -- Biography. 
• Not so eminent Victorians / edited by R.J.W. Selleck and Martin Sullivan. (Biography of notable teachers)

Unions

We have several items in our collection relating to Victorian teacher union groups, including books, journals and newspapers.

Do a catalogue search such as teacher unions Victoria* and browse results, (the * will find Victoria and Victorian) .

Also see our research guide on Protests, activism & dissent in Victoria to learn about trade union records in our Riley political ephemera collection.

Over the years teachers were required to be state registered and lists of those registered have been published. Up until about 1991, the occupational registers were usually published in or as separate issues of the Victoria Government Gazette.  Since then many have been published as separate publications and most are now only available online.

To research occupational registers, and past and present award rates for teachers in Victoria - see Occupations and Wages tab on our Victorian Government Publications Research Guide.

Also see:

• Supplementary register of teachers and supplementary register of schools  / Victoria. Council of Public Education. (1912-1917)
• Return under section 54 of the Public Service Act 1883 : [supplementary roll of state schools and of state school teachers]
• Return under section 77 of the Public Service Act 1883 : [supplementary roll of state schools and of state school teachers]

The Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) holds Teacher record books (VPRS 13579) for public schools from 1862-1959. Teacher record books contain the most consolidated summary of a teacher's service in public schools. The records include the teacher's date of birth, schools taught at (identified by school number), classification, and remarks (of inspectors of teachers).   

Records from 1914 to 1957 have been digitised and can be accessed through the PROV website. Instructions on how to find the records can be found on the PROV Teacher record books (VPRS 13579) website.

Digitised records can also be found on the Ancestry database (available onsite at the State Library Victoria and in most Victorian public libraries).  You will first need to find the teacher record number by searching the teacher's name on the PROV website.

To find the records from the home page of Ancestry.com, click on Search and then Card Catalogue. Do a Keyword search for - Victoria, Australia, Selected Trial Brief and Correspondence Registers and Other Images, 1837-1993. Look for Eildon Teacher Record Books and Register. Note: Despite the title Eildon, these are actually all the PROV Teacher Record Books accessible online through Ancestry.

These records are not indexed but can be browsed by description and range.

• at the top of the records is a year list
• select a year and scan through the pages
• the teacher record number is on the top left or right of the page
• note that 1914 include records from 1863 to 1914
• note that 1934 include records from 1934 to 1957

Teacher and children in a classroom H2012.171/456

In addition to the Teacher Record Books Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) also holds Apprenticeship records (1976-1990) and Non government school teacher records.

To access records of your own employment in a government from approximately 1960 onwards, you will need to contact the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development

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