Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University will host Dr. Bart McGettrick, dean of education at Liverpool Hope University in the United Kingdom, as part of its endowed Birkett Williams Lecture Series on March 6, at 7:30 p.m. The lecture will be held in Mabee Fine Art Center’s McBeth Recital Hall on Ouachita’s campus. The event is free and open to the public.

“Professor Bart McGettrick’s visit to OBU will provide another opportunity for OBU and LHU to strengthen our institutional connections,” said Ian Cosh, Ouachita’s vice president for community and international engagement.

McGettrick is currently dean of education and professor of educational development at Liverpool Hope. Previously a teacher of geography, McGettrick became the principal of St. Andrew’s College for teacher education in Scotland from 1985 to 1999. He served as professor of education at the University of Glasgow from 1993 to 2005 and was named the first dean of the faculty of education at Glasgow in 1999. McGettrick is emeritus professor of education and dean emeritus of the faculty of education at the University of Glasgow.

“As an expert on the United Kingdom education system, Professor McGettrick is in a unique position to share global insights about the unique challenges faced by educators in the United Kingdom and around the world,” Cosh added.

McGettrick has widespread international experience, serving as a regent of Bethlehem University in Palestine and participating in various projects in Canada, India and Lithuania. He is in demand as a keynote speaker for national and international conferences.

He is involved in the Scottish Social Services Council, dealing with aspects of social work and social care, the Scottish Forum for professional ethics in Scotland and the Hope Forum for Professional Ethics in Liverpool. McGettrick chairs several boards of governors of schools and other organizations.

“The process of internationalizing the campus is an organic process, so visits by international visitors provide valuable momentum to our thinking about globalization,” Cosh said.

Dr. Merribeth Bruning, dean of Ouachita’s Huckabee School of Education, led a pilot study abroad program to England and Ireland with four education majors during the summer of 2011. The group toured various schools and interacted with educators in a series of visits.

“This is a great example of how a relationship between two institutions grows and how the connections between units of both universities start to collaborate at a more focused level over time,” Cosh said.

The education faculty at LHU assisted Bruning with the details involved in visiting classrooms to learn about the education system in the United Kingdom. The students were able to compare and contrast teaching styles and curricula as well as discuss pros and cons of government influence on a national curriculum.

Kathy Collins, OBU instructor of education, will lead a team of students to LHU during the summer of 2012, and Carrie Sharp, also an instructor of education, will lead the group during the summer of 2013.

Ouachita’s Birkett Williams Lecture Series was established in 1977 through a gift from the late Birkett L. Williams, a 1910 Ouachita graduate. His generous endowment established the lectures as an opportunity to extend the concepts of a liberal arts education beyond the classroom by bringing outstanding scholars and public figures to Ouachita’s campus.

For more information, contact Ian Cosh at [email protected] or (870) 245-5320 or Merribeth Bruning at [email protected] or (870) 245-5154.

By Lara Overman