Gordon Kirk, educationalist. An appreciation.

PROFESSOR Gordon Kirk, who has died after a battle with T-cell lymphoma, was one of Scotland's (indeed the United Kingdom's) most admired and influential educationalists.

He went to Camphill School in Paisley and then to Glasgow University where he distinguished himself on the football field and at the bridge table. He graduated with an MA in English and French.

While employed as a secondary school teacher in Glasgow, he acquired a masters in education under Professor Stanley Nisbet. In 1965 he became a lecturer in education at the University of Aberdeen, working with Stanley’s brother, Professor John Nisbet. In 1974 he returned to Glasgow as head of the education department at Jordanhill College of Education.

In 1982 he became principal of Moray House College of Education and led that institution with distinction through eventful and sometimes difficult times. He negotiated validation arrangements, firstly with the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) and then with Heriot-Watt University. In 1998 a new relationship was established with the University of Edinburgh. Moray House became that university’s faculty of education with Gordon Kirk as dean of the faculty. He later became vice-principal of Edinburgh University.

Professor Kirk somehow found time to serve education outwith the institutions in which he was based. This began in the 1970s with his active membership of the Munn committee on the secondary school curriculum. He was later a member of CNAA. He was also a member of the General Teaching Council for Scotland for nearly 20 years; he was vice-convener of that council from 1992 until 2001.

His input to education was not confined to Scotland. Professor Kirk became academic secretary to the United Kingdom’s Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers. His writings included representations to the governments of both Scotland and the UK. He was the author, joint author or editor of many publications. Of particular note are Scottish Education Looks Ahead and Teacher Education: The Policy Debate. When he was 60, he completed a PhD on educational policy. In 2003 he was awarded an OBE.

In 1967 he married Jane Murdoch, a fellow teacher who specialised in working with learners with additional support needs. They lived in Aberdeen, Milngavie and Gullane, East Lothian. They had two children, Heather and Graham, of whom Gordon was immensely proud.

How will I personally remember Gordon? Allow me just two anecdotes. My wife and I were driving home from the Gullane home after a hugely enjoyable Sunday lunch. I said, “Gordon has two obvious traits: intellectual forthrightness and humorous warmth. These are perhaps more common in the West of Scotland than in the East.” My wife replied, “If Gordon heard you saying that he would first reprimand you for sloppy stereotyping - then tell you an outrageous story illustrating your point.”

Just the other day I was chatting with a lady who had been a secretary in Jordanhill College in the 1970s. We commiserated on Gordon’s death. She reminisced, “Every time I met him in the corridor, he recognised me and said ‘Hello’. He always left me smiling.”

COLIN HOLROYD