LEARMONTH-LERMONTOV. A HYISTORY OF THE NAME AND FAMILIES

Learmonth was as effective as a teacher. He was
appointed a Schools Council research fellow and seconded to
Leicester Universitys Centre for Mass Communications. He
wrote textbooks and anthologies for use with lower-achieving
pupils. He was appointed as head of George Green
Community School in 1975. His success led to his
appointment in 1980 as an Inspector of Schools. He worked
for a time in America examining their approaches in inner city
schools.
He wrote papers on the influence of television on
children and was a member of the working group created by
the British Film Institute to look into media education. In
1989 he was appointed Deputy Director and Chief Inspector of
Schools in Richmond. He was also editor of an influential
publication called Teaching and Learning. He later worked as
an Educational Consultant in Britain and abroad. His final
appointment in 1997 was to establish The Centre for
Educational Leadership and School Improvement at
Canterbury Christ Church University College, which has since
become a byword for school improvement. James Learmonth
educationist was born on April 19th 1939. He died of cancer
on August 8 2003, age of 64
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James was a gifted and influential educational
practitioner with a wide range of interests: in media education,
in inspection and advisory work, in schooling for the
disadvantaged, in educational leadership and school
improvement, and in international links. He wrote books on
these themes, and contributed greatly in many ways to their
furtherance. He set up the Centre for Educational Leadership
and School Improvement at Christ Church University College,
Canterbury. James was always puzzled and sad that the gap
between rich and poor had widened, in the UK and globally,
during the second half of the twentieth century; he believed
strongly that education was a key to greater inclusion, social
stability and international co-operation. He also believed that
teachers and educational leaders can only be effective if they
continue learning. James died of cancer in 2003. His wife
Maggie, his family and numerous colleagues and friends have
considered what he would have wanted to do if he had had
more time. He had already forged international links with the
US, Australia and Hong Kong; he had hoped to extend these
to bring help to less advantaged urban areas in other parts of
the world. To help carry out this ambition they have decided
to establish a James Learmonth Scholarship that would
support students, teachers and educational leaders in southern
African countries to pursue studies in education. The
scholarship fund, like other similar scholarships, will be
administered by the Canon Collins Educational Trust for
Southern Africa, and will have charitable status. The Fund will
be used to support study and research in the fields of
educational leadership and school improvement, especially in
urban areas. 'A man lives for as long as we carry him inside
us, for as long as we carry the harvest of his dreams; for as
long as we ourselves live, holding memories in common, a
man lives.' (Pablo Neruda) (http://news.independent.co.uk).
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