Seminar examines controversial Aberdeen head teacher's approach to education

Seminar examines controversial Aberdeen head teacher's approach to education

Date: 1 March 99

A public seminar on the work of the controversial former Head of Summerhill Academy, R.F MacKenzie, will take place at the University of Aberdeen on Thursday, March 4.

The lecture has been organised by the University’s Centre for Educational Research and will mark the recent publication of a book, The Life of RF MacKenzie – A Prophet without Honour, written by Peter Murphy, a former colleague of MacKenzie’s.

RF MacKenzie was born at Lethenty in 1910 and brought up in Wartle. He attended school in Turriff before continuing his education at Robert Gordon’s College.

Appointed headmaster of Summerhill Academy in 1968, he was critical of the examination system for dominating people’s thinking about what education should be for. Education should, he argued, be about growing in understanding rather than mastering factual knowledge.

Dr John Darling, joint director of the Centre, said that MacKenzie’s controversial criticisms became widely known and discussed.

“MacKenzie was unsympathetic to conventional academic education and to traditional modes of discipline. He wrote a series of books on education and his controversial criticisms became widely known and discussed,” said Dr Darling.

“He came into conflict with people who held more orthodox views, including some colleagues and parents at Summerhill. These disputes featured widely in the media at the time and led to his suspension from post.”

The decision to close Summerhill Academy was announced on the day MacKenzie died, 13 years after he was suspended from the post.

Peter Murphy was Summerhill Academy’s Principal Teacher of English under Mackenzie. During the seminar, he will discuss MacKenzie’s case for alternative directions in Scottish education.

The seminar starts at 5pm and is open to the general public. Anyone interested in attending should contact the Centre for Educational Research on 272729 for details.

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