Headmistresses

Abstract

This study begins with headmistresses who were among some of the first women to gain professional teaching status. From the 12 headmistresses autobiographies examined I have selected four which exemplify the concerns of this group; some of which have been the focus of social historians.¹ In these texts their common concerns range from those of vocation/service, religion, celibacy and spinsterhood, to teaching methods, curriculum and retirement issues. Hitherto, these issues have been an under-researched area. My intention is to examine the effect that institutionalisation has upon the content and style of their autobiographies, because at times the lives of these professional and articulate women can appear to be indistinguishable from the lives of their school. However, these headmistresses do not ‘disappear’ into the text; it becomes what Camilla Stivers calls the: ‘construction of the self through the narrative of others’.² In these texts the ‘other’ is the school. This chapter will examine how the restrictions, social, cultural and professional — impinged on these pioneering women. The work of philosopher and theorist Michel Foucault will be of use although at times Foucault’s ideas can appear to provide more problems than they solve.