[Maths-Education] Professor Geoffrey Matthews

[Margaret Brown]

Those who remember Professor Geoffrey Matthews will be sorry to hear that
he died last Friday, aged 85, after many years of suffering from
Parkinson's disease. He was the first holder of the first established
mathematics education chair in a UK university (at Chelsea College,
University of London, now merged into King's College London). He made many
contributions to evolving a peculiarly British sort of modern maths in
secondary schools (the Str Dunstan's Project - 'spotty books', and then was
director of Nuffield Primary Maths which modernised the curriculum in
primary schools with the slogan 'I do and I understand' and a large
collection of Teacher's Guides. He also invented Teachers' Professional
Centres - the prototypes were Nuffield Maths centres. At Chelsea he set up
a lively research centre for mathematical education, and was the director
of the study 'Concepts in Secondary Matheematics and Science' (CSMS) in
which Kath Hart and I were then involved. Above all he was a lovely man and
an inspired mathematics teacher, and he cared very much about teachers and
children, especially those in difficult circumstances. He and his wife Pat
trecked round the UK and indeed the world running workshops for primary
teachers.
The funeral will take place on Wednesday 25th September at Eltham
Crematorium South London, and afterwards at the Swallow Hotel, Eltham.
There will be a celebration of his life - probably at King's in November.
His wife (Pat) lives at 50 Sydney Road, Bexleyheath, Dartford, Kent.
Margaret Brown

Department of Education and Professional Studies
King's College London
Franklin-Wilkins Building
150 Stamford Street
London SE1 9NN
United Kingdom
Tel no:+44 (0)20 7848 3088
Fax no:+44 (0)20 7848 3182
The entrance to the School of Education is on Waterloo Road.
A map of the locality is available at:
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/about/maa/sc.html

For more information about Education at King's see
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/education