Professor Terence McLaughlin (1949–2006)
CEPPA Fellow 1992
By Professor Gerald Grace, Institute of Education, University of London
from Institute of Education website
The death of Terence McLaughlin at 57 from acute leukaemia has not only devastated his many friends and colleagues in the UK and the wider world, it has been a major intellectual loss for the worlds of Philosophy of Education and Catholic Education in which he was prominent and active.
Terry was shaped and formed academically by the culture of Philosophy of Education established at the University of London, Institute of Education by Richard Peters and Paul Hirst and developed by John and Patricia White. This approach was concerned with a conception of education, which focussed on matters such as the autonomy of the individual, the development of democratic citizens and the significance of critical reason in education. It was this broadly analytic approach to the Philosophy of Education, which was a decisive influence upon his subsequent thinking and writing.
But Terry was, at the same time, a committed and practising Catholic and, as a result of this other culture in which he lived, he had a personal project of making connections between Faith and Reason. This was demonstrated in his PH.D thesis (1991) ' Parental Rights in Religious Upbringing and Religious Education within a Liberal Perspective', and in his further writings.
While Terry McLaughlin made many distinguished and sophisticated contributions to the secular field of Philosophy of Education, he resisted the idea that a secular form of liberal education is the only defensible educational experience in modern society. For him, it was clearly a right of parents in a democratic and pluralist society to shape the early education of their children according to the beliefs, values and principles, which they regarded as important. In other words, it was a legitimate and democratic right of parents to commit their children to faith-based schooling (Christian, Islamic, Jewish etc). However, he was also aware of the rights of children and young people as they mature, to come to their own personal position on religious, ideological and value issues. In his view, modern forms of faith-based schooling characterised by ' openness with roots' provided a defensible synthesis of these two legitimate positions: - ' Such schooling can be seen to be compatible with liberal, democratic principles, not least by providing a particular substantial starting point for the child's eventual development into autonomous enquiry and democratic citizenship' (1996.p.147)
Terry was convinced that Post-Vatican 11 Catholic schooling was in the process of developing an educational culture based upon 'openness with roots'. This implied that charges of Catholic school 'indoctrination' could no longer be sustained, and were nothing more than the residues of historical prejudices. The world of Catholic educational scholarship and of professional practice was greatly enriched by Terry's work. In 1996 he edited, with his colleagues, Bernadette O'Keeffe (St Edmunds College, Cambridge) and Joseph O'Keefe, SJ (Boston College, USA) a ground-breaking collection of scholarly essays, The Contemporary Catholic School: Context, Identity and Diversity. His own contribution ' The Distinctiveness of Catholic Education' became widely influential in the Catholic educational community. As a result he received many invitations to address Catholic conferences in the UK and Ireland and internationally.
His contributions to a greater understanding of faith-based schooling extended beyond the Catholic community and he was engaged in dialogue with Islamic educators and with the Islamic Academy in Cambridge. In 2001 he was invited to the International Conference on Children's Spirituality at the University of Haifa, Israel.
In the secular world of Philosophy of Education, Terry was not only a creator of fine academic papers such as ' Liberalism, Education and the Common School', ' Citizenship Education in England', 'Philosophy and Moral Education', 'Philosophy and Educational Policy', but he was also the organisational genius of the Philosophy of Education Society and, in many ways, its social animator. He was successively Secretary, Vice-Chair and Chair of the Society and the organiser of its highly successful seminars and conferences. But Terry contributed more than just organisation, he generated because of his warm and friendly personality, a social atmosphere characterised by fun, by laughter, by an incredible store of jokes and, as evening wore on, by song and dance.
It is no coincidence that Terry began his career as a teacher of English and Drama because he never lost his sense of humanity, theatre and fun. Although he was a life-long abstainer from alcohol, he was a 'party person' like no other, and he had the capacity to make others feel more cheerful and relaxed about their own lives.
Terry spent the largest part of his academic career in the University of Cambridge, where he was University Lecturer in Philosophy of Education and Fellow of St.Edmunds College. At Cambridge he was mentored and inspired by Professor Paul Hirst, Head of the Department of Education. He always sought to aspire to Hirst's high standards of analytical clarity and logical argument.
Terence McLaughlin's appointment as Professor of the Philosophy of Education at the Institute of Education, University of London marked the high point of his academic career in 2003. It was for him a form of intellectual homecoming. He promised to bring to the Chair, 'energy, vitality and commitment' and he quickly realised these promises after giving one of the wittiest Inaugural Lectures, which the Institute had heard for many years. He was, as he had been at Cambridge, a teacher of distinction, a friend of students, a supportive colleague and a dedicated and helpful supervisor of graduate and research students.
The international connections of the Institute particularly appealed to him because he was something of a David Lodge world traveller and had addressed seminars and conferences in over twenty-five countries. His relationships with educators in Lithuania were especially close and he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Kaunas University for services to the rebuilding of educational scholarship and practice in that country.
In addition to the responsibilities of the Chair, Terry agreed to become Deputy Director of the Centre for Research and Development in Catholic Education (CRDCE), at the Institute. He was committed to write, with others, an Introduction to a Modern Catholic Philosophy of Education.
Terry never married, to the great distress of his many women friends who saw in him a potential ideal husband. As he put it, he ' was not called to the vocation of marriage'. Although not married, he certainly had his own caring 'family' which was the Fellows and the students of St Edmunds College. This family, which he had served in the roles of Admissions Tutor, Director of Studies and Senior Tutor and just as importantly, in the role of ' life and soul' of the College, came to his aid when his tragic illness struck in March 2006. It was College members who arranged for his admission to Addenbrookes Hospital and who played a large part (with his brother-in-law and nephews) in being at his bedside during his last days. The Dean of College, Father Michael Robson gave him the Last Rites. Terry was a very regular attender at Mass in St Edmunds College Chapel throughout his career. It seems particularly appropriate that he received these last spiritual consolations from the Dean and that his Requiem Mass was celebrated in the College Chapel.
Donations to Cancer UK in Terence's memory would be very welcome.
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A volume of Terry McLaughlin's writings appears as Liberalism, Education and Schooling, Essays by T.H. McLaughlin St Andrews Studies in Philosophy and Public Affairs (2008) dited by David Carr, Mark Halstead and Richard Pringe
Terry McLaughlin managed to bring clarity into complex issues of educational concern without losing the subtlety of the argument. He was one of the best exponents of the analytic tradition in philosophy of education, in part because his analysis was always informed by a depth of both scholarship and personal understanding. His many admirers across the world will be delighted to see so much of his central work brought together for the first time in this collection.
David Bridges, St Edmund's College, University of Cambridge, Professorial Fellow and former Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of East Anglia.
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McLaughlin's scholarship was devoted to exploring how traditional religious upbringing might be reconciled with philosophical liberalism. His achievement in this regard was exemplary. The care and subtlety he consistently exhibited in argument on matters of the highest educational and social importance always commanded the respect and admiration of his peers. This splendid book is a testament to his achievement.
Eamonn Callan, Pigott Family Professor, School of Education, Stanford University.
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McLaughlin seeks to get to grips with the fundamental issues behind certain vitally important contemporary controversies in educational policy and practice. . . . these papers exemplify the clarity and power of contemporary analytical philosophy of education at its best. They exemplify too the expository power that made their author one of the most respected and valued contributors to work in this field. They deserve to be widely read and digested by both professionals working in education and by concerned members of the wider public.
Paul Hirst, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of Cambridge.
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Terry McLaughlin's work takes on some of the most difficult issues facing advocates of 'liberal' philosophy of education. It consistently displays philosophical sophistication, care and subtlety. McLaughlin's humane values and the deep respect with which he treats philosophical interlocutors, allies and opponents alike, always shine through. This important collection of his essays will be valued by all those concerned with the state of contemporary education.
Harvey Siegel, Professor of Philosophy, University of Miami, past President, Philosophy of Education Society, and Association for the Philosophy of Education.
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McLaughlin's tireless pursuit of pressing questions at the heart of educational policy and practice is displayed in a series of finely crafted, painstaking and searching analyses. In terms of clarity and rigour, these are models of their kind. But what comes through also is the vision of the good life that informed his work as a whole.The collection presents a remarkable insight into the achievement of a leading figure in the field, and it will be a landmark in philosophy of education for years to come.
Paul Standish, Professor of Philosophy of Education, Institute of Education, University of London, Editor of Journal of Philosophy of Education.