Born in Gloucestershire, Reid obtained his BA degree in languages from Cambridge University, after which he taught in English high schools.

A series of articles published in "Glevensis", a journal of the Gloucestershire Archaeological Society were formed into a self-published book (Chantry Press; Windmill Print and Graphics) entitled "From Roman to Saxon in a Cotswold Landscape" (2006).

Reid had a penetrating grasp of the nature of learning and a deep understanding of the link between theory and classroom realities - an approach both philosophical and practical.

Few writers in the field combined his intellectual edge with a solid perspective on teaching and a readiness to address complex issues.

He asserts that science's ascendancy in curriculum planning at the turn of the century relegated philosophical deliberation to an inferior position but that Dewey's works "kept the tradition alive"[3]