"Jack" Goodsir left Bede Grammar School, in Sunderland, in 1936, to study at Nottingham University College, while at the same time gaining his teacher's certificate at Loughborough Technical College. In 1938 he taught for a year at Grange Park Secondary Modern School, in Sunderland, then for a while, in 1942, at the RAF Technical School.

In 1943 he gained his Higher National Certificate in Mechanical Engineering, becoming a graduate of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in 1944. His first teaching post was in 1945 when he taught at Barnes Junior School and the Technical College in Sunderland, after which he returned to Grange Park until 1950. By this time he had been made an Associate of the Royal Mathematical Society.

He then moved to Monkwearmouth Grammar School for six years, ending up in 1956 at the South Shields Grammar-Technical School for Boys.