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Brian Matthews
Brian Matthews taught for 19 years in Inner London secondary schools.
He was always involved in making education more interesting
and engaging boys and girls in their learning. He pioneered
a range of innovative curriculum and learning strategies.
These included developing approaches to improve both
the pupils’ learning and their attitudes to science.
The modules were based around problem solving, sex education
and science as social activity. One common theme through
these was to ensure that girls were as interested in
science as boys through the use of collaborative group
work. As a result of these and other curriculum changes
his school had double the national average of girls
taking up physics.
Brian worked in teacher training at Goldsmiths where
he ran the PGCE Secondary Science course and was also
Head of the Secondary Programme where he was responsible
for all aspects of teacher education. While there he
did groundbreaking research with teachers in Greenwich
schools into how to develop pupil’s emotional
literacy. He found from his teaching and research that
collaboration between pupils could be a motivating factor
and helps pupils to learn, think and enjoy lessons.
Pupils do not find it easy to learn the skills required
to collaborate and engage in true dialogue, although
they value it. The classroom strategies developed can
be used in all subject areas. The full results are published
in articles and the book, Engaging Education. Developing
Emotional Literacy, equity and co-education with
McGraw-Hill/OUP (2006). A review of the book in the
Educational Review stated that ‘This inspirational
and thought-provoking book is grounded in the author’s
educational research and experience as an inner city
secondary science teacher and is fuelled by his obvious
commitment to the principles of equality, humanity and
social inclusion’.
He was invited to a meeting with the QCA as an expert
on emotional literacy to discuss the KS3 National Curriculum
and the issues around emotional literacy, SEAL and the
Personal learning and thinking skills (PLTS). One of
the issues is the extent to which these can be integrated
as opposed to being kept separate. He has written discussion
papers on the complexities.
While he was a teacher he instigated curriculum developments
to introduce problem solving to year 7 and 8 pupils
which were of direct relevance to the introduction of
the Personal Learning and Thinking Skills. He worked
on the QCA Science Creativity group.
Diversity and inclusion
Throughout his work in school and as a teacher-trainer
he has always had a commitment to equal opportunities.
He pioneered work on multicultural education in schools.
Recently he has been involved with the National History
Museum and Science Learning Centre London with giving
a talk on ‘Tackling Multiculturalism in the classroom’.
This links with the KS3 Science National Curriculum
strand ‘Cultural Understanding’.
He now runs an MA module in Every Child Matters, Personalisation
and SEAL at Goldsmiths College.
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