Martin Hughes obituary

Development

psychologist who has studied the differences between how children learn at home and at school

development psychologist Martin Hughes, who died at the age of 62 after a multi-organ failure, studied how children's learning, knowledge and understanding varies by social context. In a career based mainly in universities of Exeter and Bristol, was difficult questions about the role of schooling and learning from the perspective of the child, and his work continues to be instructive for teachers and parents.

For the book he wrote with Barbara Tizard, children's learning (1984, reissued in 2002 as a children's series Understanding of the World), four girls were reported to talk to their teachers in kindergarten and their mothers at home, where much richer conversations were recorded. This suggests that children themselves a sense of intellectual effort was an essential part of learning, and questioning of young children does not exit if it is essentially limited to answering rather than asking questions.

in children and the number (1986), Martin compared the math skills that children have before going to school with the difficulties encountered by many to be the first time you meet in school mathematics. This raises the paradox: "The children seem to start school with more mathematical knowledge has so far in this case, why the difficulty of such an experience with math in school.?" He presented evidence that children develop their own forms of writing informal mathematics that do not correspond to the system of symbols that are needed to learn in school. The important message that children need to develop links between the formal and informal knowledge of numbers, was lost when the national strategy for mathematics was introduced in 1999. Martin's work deserves more attention.

Following the Education Reform Act of 1988, he led projects that explore the understanding of the relationship with parents and policy changes more and more centralized. He was among the first to identify the growing trend of parents as consumers and education as a commodity.

Exeter (1984-1999) and sought out Bristol school values. While there was a productive partnership with Pamela Greenhough. We examined, for example, how six and seven year old children performed tasks such as sharing a book, play a math game or do a search of Science Teacher of the school elementary and a father at home, in another, was that children learn through the task.

• a large scale, the host school knowledge exchange project, directed by Martin from 2001 to 2004 explored how children in school and outside school, the Learning can be connected through knowledge sharing activities. The use of innovative activities, including video and photography as a vehicle for sharing knowledge, connections are built in both directions, with a positive impact on the achievement of children.

Martin was born in Hull and raised in Manchester, where his parents, Sam and Eileen, were teachers. Educated at Manchester Grammar School, University College, Oxford (where he studied philosophy and psychology), and the University of Edinburgh, Martin focuses on the importance of social context from the beginning. In his thesis work, reported in the mind of the child, Margaret Donaldson (1978), the tasks that led to a review of the findings of Jean Piaget on egocentrism of young children has reached its three tasks mountains. Instead of requiring the child to choose the views of the mountains could be seen by a manikin placed in different positions, the experience of Martin had hidden the child two dolls doll police. Use this task that has a social meaning, even very young children were able to demonstrate their abilities to the point of view of coordination.

Martin finished his collegiate career with a teacher of the Council of Economic and Social Research in communion outside the training school (2005-08). He acknowledged the growing interest in the region outside the school between teachers and educational policies, but there was criticism of a campaign to organize and control it to meet the objectives of the school system. He said that "Rather than trying to control -. Or simply ignore - the students' academic learning, schools must actively seek ways to make visible and celebrated in the school "
Martin wrote about his ideas clearly, and was willing to communicate their research to researchers and teachers. Although I was skeptical about its likely impact on politics, his work is often directly linked to politics, and worked hard to make sure he knew what he was doing. His colleague, Charles Crook, University of Nottingham, said: "Unlike many professors, Martin seemed genuinely interested in hearing about the activities of other people and opinions, and he was always happy to develop this type of conversations. "

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