Handheld technology
Mathematics education
Science Education

I am currently Deputy Director of the Science Learning Centre South East. Before that I taught science and mathematics in schools in England, Germany and Turkey for thirty years, being a Science Department Head for twenty of those. I have recently enjoyed being a PGCE tutor while teaching physics in a school at the same time and speak French and Turkish well enough to get into difficulty.

The experience of living abroad and particularly the excitement of living in the Near East for ten years has been a very formative one. I can draw upon a wide background of different educational perspectives, my mother-in-law being also an ex French Primary School head! I find my actions tempered by the intense drive to receive an education in Turkey and the meticulous care German science teachers take in their experimental presentations, the Meister Demonstrator. The liberalism of the French Baccalaureat and the autonomy of the German Abitur and Turkish Lise Diploma have tinged my attitude towards school assessment so that I have struggled to come to terms with the rather stifling structures we have imposed in England. I won a number of teaching awards inTurkey and despite being a foreigner was asked to be an expert arbitrator on a number of occasions in the Istanbul Court over examination decisions.

When I was elected chair of the Association for Science Education in 2001, I little realised how much access I would have to the levers of power. As well as liaising with QCA, DfES, OfSTED and the TTA I have been a QCA scrutineer and served on the former OCEAC physics committee. I was able to influence the shape of the new AS and A2 levels as a member of the physics accreditation group of QCA and have seved as a Teacher Advocate for the TTA.

My interests lie in the connection between mathematics and science with particular reference to what is going on in schools. Hand held data loggers and graphing calculators have grabbed my attention and I have collaborated occasionally with Texas Instruments. I began my working life as a researcher into the automated analysis of rocket photography and even then was involved in an activity which brought together maths, science and digital technology. But tremendous advances in science have been made since then and I am now working to create a centre where science teachers can develop their subject knowledge and professional skills. My work is now focused on how to bring cutting edge science into courses where teachers can freely experiment with new ideas and strategies for the classroom.