Leone Burton facts for kids

Leone Minna Burton (born Gold; 14 September 1936 – 1 December 2007) was an important professor who taught about math and science education. She worked at colleges in London in the 1970s. Later, she taught at the Open University in the 1980s. From 1992, she worked at the University of Birmingham.

At South Bank Polytechnic, she helped start the first master's degree in math education in the UK. After she retired in 2001, she became an Honorary Professor at King's College London. She also became a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University. Leone Burton was known for her research and for guiding students working on their PhDs. She created important groups for research in the growing field of math education.

Early Life and Learning

Leone Burton was born in Australia. She moved to England when she was in her early twenties. She studied mathematics at the University of London.

She first taught math in high school. However, she did not like how schools were set up back then. She wanted to change how things were taught. So, she moved to teaching at the elementary level. This gave her more chances to try new teaching ideas.

She earned a special teaching certificate in 1966. In 1968, she received an academic diploma in education. Both were from the University of London. In 1967, she started working at Battersea College of Education. This college helps prepare people to become teachers. She earned her PhD from the Institute of Education in 1980.

Making Math Education Better

Leone Burton's main goal was to improve how math is taught. She studied how real mathematicians work and learn. She believed these methods could help students in school.

Her research is part of a field called ethnomathematics. This field looks at how math is connected to different cultures. It shows that math is used in many ways around the world.

At the Open University, Burton helped create new courses for teachers. These courses were called "Developing Mathematical Thinking." They focused on solving problems in math. They taught that teachers should understand how mathematicians think, not just what they know.

In 1982, she wrote a book called Thinking Mathematically with Mason and Stacey. This book shared her ideas with teachers all over the world. It helped teachers understand how to use and apply math themselves.

Helping Girls in Math

From 1984 to 1988, Leone Burton led an international group for women and math education. She also visited universities in Asia as a professor. She played a big part in changing how teachers thought about girls and math. Her work helped more girls succeed in math in the UK and other countries.

In 2001, Burton started a series of books called "International Perspective on Mathematics Education." These books were published by Greenwood Publishing. Three books came out between 2002 and 2006. Later, this book series was renamed. It became "International Perspectives on Mathematics Education: Cognition, Equity and Society." This was done to honor her important work on fairness and gender issues in math education.

How Mathematicians Learn

Her last book was called Mathematicians as Enquirers. For this book, she interviewed professional mathematicians. She wanted to understand how they learn. She found they learn by asking questions, using their imagination, and working together.

Her research showed that the ways mathematicians learn are good for school students too. These methods are similar to what math education research suggests for classrooms.

Family Life

Leone Burton married John W. Burton in 1966. They had a son in 1968.