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Gordon Kirk was born in Dunfermline in 1938 and
educated at Camphill Secondary School, Paisley. He studied at Glasgow
University, obtaining an MA in English Language and Literature. After
a year at Jordanhill College of Education he was awarded his TQ (Chapter
V English and Article 39 History), and the Diploma in Education,
in 1961. He served as an English teacher at Albert Secondary School
in Glasgow during which time he also studied at Glasgow University
for his MEd awarded in 1964. He was appointed to the post of Lecturer
in Education at
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the University of Aberdeen in 1965 where he worked alongside Professor
John Nisbet and Noel Entwistle. He became Head of the Department of Education
at Jordanhill College of Education in 1974.
In 1981 Gordon Kirk became Principal of Moray House College of Education
in Edinburgh. His principalship was coterminous with a phase of significant
course and institutional development. He had been a member of the Council
for National Academic Awards’ Inservice Teacher Education Board since
1976 and this experience proved invaluable at Moray House. From 1981 the
College embarked on an extensive programme of external validation of its
courses through the CNAA. As a result of this programme the College was
in a position to offer in excess of 10 undergraduate degree programmes
in teaching, community education and social work, an extensive range of
post-graduate and masters degree programmes for serving professionals.
He became a member of CNAA’s Council in 1987.
This programme of course development and diversification was accompanied
by the strengthening of partnership with the various professions in all
aspects of the College’s work, including student selection, course
planning, course approval and assessment, and a policy of seconding teachers
from schools and professionals from other services to enrich its work.
It was also marked by an increase in the amount of research and development
work undertaken by College staff, and by a programme of staff development.
These substantial changes in the range and level of work required revised
policies and procedures for decision-making, institutional governance,
departmental structure, the identification of institutional priorities,
staffing, and resource allocation. It was a feature of the many independent
reports on the work of the College over these years that its courses
were highly commended, as were its culture and institutional climate,
together with the management infrastructure and support systems.
Gordon Kirk’s principalship was also marked by Moray House’s
involvement in a series of major institutional alliances, reflecting
changes in the wider context of higher education in Scotland. In 1981,
Callendar Park College of Education was closed and its staff, students
and resources transferred to Moray House. In 1986, the Secretary of State
intimated a further reduction in the size of the college system: Dunfermline
College of Physical Education was to be closed and all of Scotland’s
training of Physical Education teachers concentrated at Moray House.
In 1991, in anticipation of the closure of the CNAA, a formal linkage
was established with Heriot Watt University, whereby Moray House retained
its independence, but its programmes were approved by Heriot-Watt and
students graduated with awards of that university.
In response to further pressures to enhance the quality of its work,
in the face of intensifying fiscal stringency, and with a deteriorating
relationship with Heriot Watt University, Professor Kirk opened discussions
in July 1996 with the University of Edinburgh. These culminated in the
merger of Moray House within the University of Edinburgh, as its Faculty
of Education, in 1998. Professor Kirk served as Dean of the Faculty of
Education from 1998 to 2002 and at the end of this period was appointed
Vice-Principal of the University retiring in 2003.
During his career he was closely involved in many aspects of Scottish
education and of the development of teacher education. He was a member
of the Munn Committee that investigated the structure of the secondary
school curriculum, reporting 1977. As Dean he was involved in the development
of the Standard for Chartered Teacher in Scotland. Throughout his career,
Professor Kirk served on a number of national bodies: he was chair of
the Scottish Council for Research in Education (1984-1992); chair
of the Educational Broadcasting Council for Scotland (1986-1991);
and Vice-Convener of The General Teaching Council for Scotland from 1992
to 2001. He served on a number of other bodies, including the Higher
Education Quality Council and the Scottish Consultative Council on the
Curriculum, and undertook consultancy work in a number of overseas countries,
including Norway, Canada, Mexico, Argentina and South Africa.
Professor Kirk contributed in excess of 120 articles to professional
and academic journals, his main areas of interest being the education
of teachers, partnership in teacher education, the work of the General
Teaching Councils, and quality assurance in teacher education. He was
the author of several books: Curriculum and Assessment in the Scottish
Secondary School (1982), The Core Curriculum (1986), Teacher Education
and Professional Development (1988), Enhancing Quality in Teacher Education
(2000), Moray House and the Road to Merger (2002), and, with others,
The Chartered Teacher (2003). He also edited two books on Moray House,
which were collections of essays written by members of staff and intended
to portray the life and work of the College at different stages of its
development: Moray House and Professional Education (1985) and Moray
House and Change in Higher Education (1995). In collaboration with Bob
Glaister of the Open University he edited some 30 books on educational
developments in Scotland.
Gordon Kirk was awarded the OBE in the New Year Honours List in 2003
and in the same year received an honorary degree from the University
of Paisley, both in recognition of his services to teacher education.
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