Prof James Calderhead retired recently from the University of Dundee where he was the Vice Principal. He had a distinguished career in education research in the UK but EERA may know him better as its first President.
Prof Calderhead had responsibility for international relations on the British Educational Research Council and attended the first organizing meeting for a proposed European association held at Aarau, Switzerland, hosted by Prof Armin Gretler, in 1993. This meeting, and the subsequent ones, had a broad range of tasks to deal with and in his recollections, Prof Calderhead described this period as exciting, and the organizing group as full of passion and vision about European education research.
The group contained important researchers from across Europe, often meeting each other for the first time, and not sharing a common language. Meetings involved constant translation and re-translation between their members.
Armin Gretler was the moving spirit at this time, a diplomat in his work across Europe, but he proposed that Prof Calderhead stand for the post of President. As the organizing group moved between translations, and operated a diplomatic and careful voting procedure for all its work, James Calderhead recollected later that he was not sure if they knew they were voting for him or their evening choice of restaurant !
He became the organizer for the first ECER, jointly with BERA, at the University of Bath in 1995. This was a major event with 1400 researchers on campus: it doubled the size of the usual BERA conference, involved mixed strands and panels, and was financially risky. As the organization of a conference this size was new to all its partners, some things, he remembered, went awry. Many people had not booked their meals and spent a lot of time at the conference trying to finding food ! The University shop was completely emptied. He also organized the second conference at Seville, with the help of Spanish, Scottish and Dutch colleagues, another major undertaking.
The work of Prof James Calderhead has borne fruit. From our rocky but enthusiastic beginnings in the mid 1990s, we now have a stable and successful association, and the agendas of those early meetings have come into existence. We thank him.
For the EERA Council
Martin Lawn recollecting an interview with James Calderhead on the foundation of EERA.