My friend and former colleague Andrew Hutchinson, who has died aged 74, was a teacher and leading exponent of development education.
Through working for Christian Aid, the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) and the United Nations, then taking up the post of head of education for Save the Children from the mid-1980s, he earned the respect of the entire development education sector. His gift for engaging with people of whatever generation or culture, together with a flair for teaching, made him brilliant in this role.
Born in Newport, Isle of Wight, he was the son of Hannah (nee Leaning), a dairy farmer, and Leslie Hutchinson, the island’s chief education officer. Andrew attended Carisbrooke grammar school, going on to do his teacher training at Westminster College of Education, in Oxford.
After teaching for a year in a secondary school in Sarawak, Malaysia, for Voluntary Service Overseas, Andrew taught at Wolverhampton Municipal grammar school (1968-70). He then took a degree in geography at Newcastle University (1973).
Following graduation he joined Christian Aid as its secondary education adviser. This was the time of Paulo Freire and progressive theologians who wanted the world turned on its face so that the poor could benefit. This became Andrew’s cause for the rest of his life.
While at Christian Aid he took on work for other agencies, including for the CRE in London and as a UN education consultant in Nairobi, Kenya. In 1985 he was persuaded to join Save the Children by the then director general, Nicholas Hinton. In this more secular setting the focus was now on how to convey to the British public the realities of life for the poorest and most marginalised children worldwide.
For instance, in 2003 he helped set up the Eye-to-Eye website, enabling children in Palestinian and other refugee camps to post their stories online. He told the Guardian at the time: “Most media attention is on the conflict but we know there is a different story to tell – and want the children to tell it.”
Andrew was widely respected not only for his expertise but also his collaborative spirit. He was unfailingly courteous and valued everyone who worked alongside him.
In 1978 he met Linda Crofts (nee Haigh), a teacher, at a conference and, after many years as a couple, they married in 1993. In 2006 he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He continued to enjoy the company of friends and family and did so in great part thanks to Linda, who looked after him until the end.
He is survived by Linda, by his stepsons, David and James, and three grandchildren, Florence, Rufus and Reuben.
