(Academic Secretary) Professor Gordon Kirk
Professor Gordon Kirk is a former Dean of the Faculty of Education and Vice-Principal at The University of Edinburgh. He retired in October 2003.
Having served as a secondary school teacher in Glasgow, Professor Kirk had spells in the University of Aberdeen and Jordanhill College of Education, before becoming Principal of Moray House Institute of Education in Edinburgh in 1981. He became the Dean of the Faculty of Education at The University of Edinburgh following the merger of Moray House with the University in 1998.
He has links with several teacher education institutions overseas and has been closely involved in the development of teacher education for nearly 30 years, most recently in the development of the Standard for Chartered Teacher in Scotland.
Throughout his career, Professor Kirk has served on a number of national bodies. He chaired the In-service Teacher Education Board of the CNAA, the Scottish Council for Research in Education, the Educational Broadcasting Council for Scotland, and the Committee of Principles of Scottish Colleges of Education. He was Vice-Convener of The General Teaching Council for Scotland from 1992 to 2001. He has served on a number of other bodies, including the Higher Education Quality Council and the Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum, and has undertaken consultancy work in a number of overseas countries, most recently in South Africa.
Professor Kirk has 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 is the author of several books, the most recent of which is The Chartered Teacher(2003). In collaboration with Bob Glaister he has edited some 30 books on educational developments in Scotland.
He 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 services to teacher education.
