In 1870, Mr. Chipping arrives at the traditional Brookfield Boarding School to give history classes in the lower school. He has a traumatic first day with the undisciplined classes, and the Headmaster Wetherby advises him that he needs to exercise his authority, otherwise he will be fired. Mr Chips gives a severe punishment to the class and obtains the respect of the students. When Wetherby dies in 1888, the old-fashioned Mr. Chipping expects to be the next headmaster, but he is not promoted. His German colleague and friend Max Staefel invites him to go on vacation with him to Austria, where he meets a progressive British woman called Katherine. The shy and lonely Mr. Chipping and Katherine fall in love and they get married. Back at Brookfield, his lovely wife Katherine, makes Mr. Chips popular with his colleagues and students and he is promoted to housemaster. Katherine makes him believe that he could be the headmaster if he wanted, but she dies whilst delivering their baby. Finally, at the beginning of World War I, Mr. Chips is promoted to headmaster until his death having served 66 years of service at Brookfield.

You are speaking of the book "Goodbye, Mr. Chips", by James Hilton, written in 1934. The plot is best summarized at this site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodbye,_Mr._Chips