Michael Robert Matthews (born 1948) is an honorary associate professor in the School of Education at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

. He has researched and published in

philosophy of education The philosophy of education is the branch of applied philosophy that investigates the nature of education as well as its aims and problems. It also examines the concepts and presuppositions of education theories. It is an interdisciplinary fiel ...

history and philosophy of science The history and philosophy of science (HPS) is an academic discipline that encompasses the philosophy of science and the history of science. Although many scholars in the field are trained primarily as either historians or as philosophers, there ...

(HPS), and

science education Science education is the teaching and learning of science to school children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education includes work in science content, science process (the scientific method), some ...

. For nearly fifty years he has taught, researched and published on the utilisation of HPS in illuminating theoretical, curricular and pedagogical problems in science education. His first degree was in geology, his subsequent degrees have been in psychology, philosophy, history and philosophy of education, and philosophy of education. He has taught science in high school, philosophy of education at Sydney Teachers College, he was foundation professor of science education at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

and he retired as an associate professor at

UNSW The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public university, public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, ...

in 2008, becoming then an honorary associate professor.

Early life, education and career

Matthews was born 19 May 1948 in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia. His schooling was at a small

De La Salle Brothers The De La Salle Brothers, officially named the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (; ; ) abbreviated FSC, is a Catholic lay religious congregation of pontifical right for men founded in France by Jean-Baptiste de La Salle ( ...

("French Christian Brothers") local school, then the larger

Irish Christian Brothers The Congregation of Christian Brothers (; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Edmund Ignatius Rice, Edmund Rice. Their first school opened in Waterford, Ireland in 1802. At the time of its ...

Waverley College Waverley College is a dual-campus independent Catholic early learning, primary and secondary day school for boys, located on Birrell and Henrietta Street in Waverley, in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, Australia. The school was founded by the C ...

. He received a BS in science from the University of Sydney in 1967 and a DipEd at

Sydney Teachers College The Sydney Teachers College was a tertiary education institution that trained school teachers in Sydney, Australia. It existed from 1906 until the end of 1981, when it became the Sydney Institute of Education, a part of the new Sydney College o ...

in 1968. Whilst science teaching, he returned to University of Sydney as an evening student and completed a double honours BA degree in psychology and philosophy and an MEd degree in philosophy of education. In 1972 he was appointed a lecturer in education at Teachers College, and in 1975 was appointed a lecturer in philosophy of education at the University of New South Wales. Whilst on staff at UNSW he was awarded a PhD degree (1980) with a thesis critical of Paul Hirst’s epistemology. A version of the thesis was published as a book. He also completed a MA degree (1985) from Sydney University in history and philosophy of science with a thesis on Galilean physics. In 1980 he became the first independent alderman elected to

Sydney City Council The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, the City of Sydney is ...

since the First War. He served two terms whilst continuing to teach at UNSW. During his tenure he served as Chair of the House Committee and wrote the local history book From 1992 to 1993 he was foundation professor of science education at the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. He has had productive visiting appointments and sabbatical leaves at a number of universities:

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

Pavia University The University of Pavia (, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; ) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one of the oldest universities in the world. It was the sole university ...

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

and

Zhejiang Normal University Zhejiang Normal University (ZJNU) is a public university in Jinhua city, Zhejiang province, China. Its main campus is next to the Shuanglong Cave national park and covers an area of more than 220 hectares with a total floor space of more than o ...

Authored books

Matthews, M.R.: 1980, ''The Marxist Theory of Schooling: A Study in Epistemology and Education'', Brighton, Harvester Press. Matthews, M.R.: 1982, ''Pyrmont & Ultimo: A History'', Sydney, Southwood Press. Matthews, M.R.: 1994, ''Science Teaching: The Role of History and Philosophy of Science'', Routledge, New York. ______________(2007), Greek translation, Epicentre Press, Thessaloniki. ______________(2013), Korean translation, Ichi Science Publishers, Seoul. Matthews, M.R.: 1995, ''Challenging New Zealand Science Education'', Dunmore Press, Palmsterston North. Matthews, M.R.: 2000, ''Time for Science Education: How Teaching the History and Philosophy of Pendulum Motion Can Contribute to Science Literacy'', Plenum Press, New York ______________(2008), Greek Translation, Epicentre Press, Thessaloniki Matthews, M.R.: 2015, ''Science Teaching: The Contribution of History and Philosophy of Science'', Routledge, New York. ______________ (2017) Chinese translation, Foreign Languages, Technical and Research Press, Beijing. ______________(2017) Turkish translation, Boğaziçi University Press, Istanbul. ______________(2017) Spanish translation, Fondo de Cultura Económica, Ciudad de México, Mexico. Matthews, M.R.: 2019, ''Feng Shui: Teaching About Science and Pseudoscience'', Springer Dordrecht. Matthews, M.R.: 2021, ''History, Philosophy and Science Teaching: A Personal Story'', Springer, Dordrecht.

Edited books

Matthews, M.R. (ed.): 1989, ''The Scientific Background to Modern Philosophy'', Indianapolis, Hackett Publishing Company. Matthews, M.R. (ed.): 1991, ''History, Philosophy and Science Teaching: Selected Readings'', Teachers' College Press, New York. Matthews, M.R. (ed.): 1998, ''Constructivism in Science Education: A Philosophical Examination'', Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht. Matthews, M.R., Bevilacqua, F. & Giannetto, E. (eds.): 2001, ''Science Education and Culture: The Role of History and Philosophy of Science'', Kluwer, Dordrecht. _______(2008), Greek Translation, Epicentre Press, Thessaloniki. Matthews, M.R., Gauld, C.F. & Stinner, A. (eds.): 2005, ''The Pendulum: Scientific, Historical, Philosophical and Educational Perspectives'', Springer, Dordrecht. Matthews, M.R. (ed.): 2009, ''Science, Worldviews and Education'', Springer, Dordrecht. Matthews, M.R. (ed.): 2014, ''International Handbook of Research in History, Philosophy and Science Teaching'' (three volumes), Springer, Dordrectht. Matthews, M.R. (ed.): 2018, ''History, Philosophy and Science Teaching: New Perspectives'', Springer, Dordrecht. Matthews, M.R. (ed.): 2019, ''Mario Bunge: A Centenary Festschrift'', Springer, Dordrecht.

Other publications

Matthews has authored over 50 book and handbook chapters, and encyclopedia entries. And 60 journal articles in science education, philosophy of education, and history and philosophy of science.

Journal editorship

Matthews was Foundation Editor of the Springer journal

Science & Education ''Science & Education: Contributions from History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Science and Mathematics'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. It covers the roles and uses of history and philosophy of s ...

: Contributions of History and Philosophy of Science (1992-2014), the first journal devoted to research in the field of HPS and science teaching.

Awards

In 2007 Matthews became president of the Teaching Commission of the Division of History of Science and Technology (DHST) of the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science (IUHPS). In 2011 th
Division of the Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science
(DLMPS) of the IUHPS joined with the DHST to create a joint Teaching Commission, of which Matthews was the founding president. In 2010 he was awarded the ‘Joseph H. Hazen Education Prize for Excellence in Education’ by US History of Science Society. In 2015 the International History, Philosophy and Science Teaching Group initiated a ‘Distinguished Achievement Award’ Matthews was honoured to be its first recipient. In 2019 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. It is the oldest learned society in the Southern Hemisphere. The Society traces its ...

(FRSN) for contributions to international HPS&ST research.

References

External links

Faculty profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Michael R. 1948 births Living people Academic staff of the University of New South Wales Historians of science Philosophers of science 20th-century Australian philosophers