My friend and colleague, Eric Macfarlane, who has died aged 93, was an inspiring and influential educationist. His own experience of school had sometimes been frustrating and difficult; reflecting on those years, he concluded that the purported excellence of some grammar school teaching had left far too many with a sense of inadequacy.
When Eric, aged 35, was appointed head of Letchworth grammar school, Hertfordshire, he wanted to encourage radical curricular alternatives. His key priorities were teamwork, use of the imagination, getting rid of streaming and participatory learning.
In 1971, he became principal of Queen Mary’s college, Basingstoke. His visionary leadership drove the success of the sixth-form college. His intention was to interpret the comprehensive ideal in a 16- to 19-year-old context. High quality A-level provision was crucial – but set within a much broader, experimental curriculum. A great deal of thought went into the general studies programme.
Equally crucial were the renewed opportunities made available to anyone who wished to pursue their education beyond the age of 16. A characteristic initiative was a weekly “college hour”. The programme was liberal in scope and ethos: one week, the captain of a Polaris submarine would give a talk, the next a young woman with brittle bone disease.
Born in Penn, Buckinghamshire, Eric was the son of Mina Macfarlane, who worked as a book-keeper for Whitbread (he never knew who his father was). He went to the Royal grammar school, High Wycombe, and in 1950 did his national service with the Royal Military Police in Singapore.
After studying teacher training at Borough Road College, Isleworth, he began to teach English at High View, a co-ed secondary modern near Croydon, in 1954. Two years later he enrolled at Birkbeck, University of London, and gained an English degree in 1960. The same year he started teaching at Sutton boys’ grammar school, and moved to become head of English at Maidstone grammar school in 1962.
Eric published a respected book about sixth-form colleges in 1978. After leaving QMC in 1989, he continued to write about educational policy and became involved in research projects and consultations, including an initiative at the University of Surrey, designed to help academic staff to become thoughtful professional teachers as well as researchers.
In his youth, Eric was a keen sportsman, playing cricket, football, snooker and tennis and running cross country. From the 1970s he was a fan of Southampton FC, a cause of frequent frustration but occasional joy.
In 1956, Eric married Jill Tucker, a teacher, whom he had met at the village tennis and youth clubs when they were teenagers. He will be remembered for his infectious humour, his sharp eye for institutional absurdities and for his support of many friends and former colleagues.
Eric is survived by Jill, their three children, Sarah, Rachel and James, and seven grandchildren.
