Difference between revisions of "Alexander Darroch (1862-1924)"
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== Early Life == | == Early Life == | ||
| − | Darroch was born in Greenock where he was educated at a local Board School. At the age of fifteen, he was appointed as a pupil teacher in Greenock, and subsequently attended the Church of Scotland Training College at Glasgow. Qualifying in 1884, he taught for ten years at a school in Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire. At over thirty years of age, he entered Edinburgh University | + | Darroch was born in Greenock where he was educated at a local Board School. At the age of fifteen, he was appointed as a pupil teacher in Greenock, and subsequently attended the Church of Scotland Training College at Glasgow. Qualifying in 1884, he taught for ten years at a school in Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire. At over thirty years of age, he entered Edinburgh University to study Philosophy, graduating with First Class Honours in 1898. As an undergraduate, he gained the Rhind Philosophical Scholarship and acted as a tutor in the Classes of [[Moral Philosophy]] and [[Logic]]. After a year lecturing in Education at University College, Bangor, he returned to Edinburgh as a Lecturer in Education and Psychology at the [[Church of Scotland Training College]]. At the same time, he worked as private assistant to [[Simon Somerville Laurie (1829-1909)]], first holder of Edinburgh University's Bell Chair of Education. He was subsequently invited by the [[Senatus]] of Edinburgh University to give a course of lectures in which he criticized the influential educational theories of Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841),arguing that they were grounded in too empirical a view of psychology. These were published as ''Herbart and the Herbartian Theory of Education'' in 1903, and in the same year Darroch succeeded Laurie in the Bell Chair of Education. |
== Bell Chair of Education == | == Bell Chair of Education == | ||
Revision as of 10:34, 11 December 2014
Alexander Darroch (1862-1924) held the Bell Chair of Education from 1903 to 1924.
Early Life
Darroch was born in Greenock where he was educated at a local Board School. At the age of fifteen, he was appointed as a pupil teacher in Greenock, and subsequently attended the Church of Scotland Training College at Glasgow. Qualifying in 1884, he taught for ten years at a school in Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire. At over thirty years of age, he entered Edinburgh University to study Philosophy, graduating with First Class Honours in 1898. As an undergraduate, he gained the Rhind Philosophical Scholarship and acted as a tutor in the Classes of Moral Philosophy and Logic. After a year lecturing in Education at University College, Bangor, he returned to Edinburgh as a Lecturer in Education and Psychology at the Church of Scotland Training College. At the same time, he worked as private assistant to Simon Somerville Laurie (1829-1909), first holder of Edinburgh University's Bell Chair of Education. He was subsequently invited by the Senatus of Edinburgh University to give a course of lectures in which he criticized the influential educational theories of Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841),arguing that they were grounded in too empirical a view of psychology. These were published as Herbart and the Herbartian Theory of Education in 1903, and in the same year Darroch succeeded Laurie in the Bell Chair of Education.
Bell Chair of Education
He played a vital role in the major reorganization of teacher training in Scotland that took place in 1905. Hitherto, teacher training had been controlled and financed by the Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland, though their Edinburgh colleges had maintained close relations with the University (particularly encouraged by Simon Somerville Laurie (1829-1909), Darroch's predecessor). In 1905, the Scottish Education Department took training out of the churches' hands, recommending the creation of four Provincial Committees for the Training of Teachers connected to Scotland's four Universities (Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, St. Andrews). Darroch acted as Chairman of the Edinburgh Provincial Committee and and oversaw the introduction of a new system of training at the Edinburgh Provincial Training Centre which opened at Moray House in 1907. Close links were established between the University and Moray House. The Schoolmaster's Diploma established under Laurie was dropped in favour of a year's course of training at Moray House for University graduates. Arrangements were also made enabling students to take their training and University course concurrently, with certain university classes being recognized as an integral part of their training programme.
Darroch was also pivotal in establishing an Honours Degree of Bachelor of Education at Edinburgh University in 1915-16. Following his death in 1924, a decision was made to bring teacher training more firmly under university control by combining the role of Director of Studies at the Edinburgh Provincial Training Centre with the Bell Chair of Education. Godfrey Thomson (1881-1955) was jointly appointed to both posts in 1925, and the University's Eduation Department was transferred to Moray House.
Sources
- James Drever, 'The New Developments in the Education Department', University of Edinburgh Journal, 1 (1925), 4-8.