Update : paying tribute and condolance can be sent to <ed-rosamund@bristol.ac.uk>
A large part of this text comes from the collective tribute edited by Andrew Pollard (read here the Bristol version)
Rosamund Sutherland, who has died aged 72, was an internationally acclaimed Professor of Mathematics Education who applied new technologies to pedagogy and challenged educational inequality. She was a pioneer in demonstrating how students’ school learning can surpass expectations with the support of expert teachers and digital technologies.
Rosamund was among the pioneers from the mathematics education community exploring the potential of educational technology for the learning of mathematics. Her first appointment as a computer programmer for Bristol Aerospace working on Concord and then as a research statistician at the university working on the analysis of data from a 1953 trans-Antarctic expedition witness her experience in both mathematics and computer-science together with her intellectual curiosity, it made natural her decision to accept Celia Hoyles invitation to join a research project to study how a computer programming language could enhance mathematical understanding. It was the beginning of the renowned Logo Mathematics Project and of a long collaboration with the London Institute of Education research group.
Rosamund got a professorship in Education at the University of Bristol in 1995. She was head of the Graduate School of Education at Bristol from 2003-2006, and chaired the Joint Mathematical Council from 2006 to 2009. Rosamund was internationally recognized for her contribution to research in the learning of algebra, and on several issues raised by what we named, in Europe, Technology Enhanced Learning. Here work was shaped by two principles: mathematics should drive the design and the use of learning technology, and the foreseen use of learning technology must include the teacher as a professional and orchestrator of learning.
In Europe the Commission launched a series programs, she participated in many of the projects they supported be they R&D or research networking projects. Rosamund was enthusiast and productive as a researcher, she was also conscious of her responsibility as a senior scientist and of the need to support the construction if this young research community. She didn’t hesitate to give time and effort to contribute to the networks of excellence the EC created. She was fully involved in the creation of the NoE Kaleidoscope (2004-2007), as one of the most active member of founding kernel, and later as a cofounder of the NoE Stellar (2009-2012) which partners unanimously recognized her scientific leadership. Rosamund fulfilled last year, 2017, her last task with the publication, edited with Mike Sharples and Erik Duval, of the Stellar reader: “Technology Enhanced Learning - Research Themes”. This ended a long lasting generous and loyal engagement for the scientific community.
Rosamund research was deeply rooted in the field, working and researching with teachers because the teacher is central, as she insisted. During her stay in Grenoble, in the beginning of the 90s, supported by a CNRS research grant in Cognitive Science, she didn’t just stay in the lab but worked in French classroom and collaborated closely with a teacher, Bernard Capponi a pioneer of the use of ICT in teaching. She was working too at a theoretical level, but to the extent that it allowed understanding better the classroom as a complex system where learning and teaching take place and productively interact, be it in Mexico, France or Rwanda. Still, she did continuously explore theoretical frameworks with the perspective to get the best of them for the responses she was looking for. This search led her to contribute to the English edition of the Theory of Didactical Situation, what was of a great support to the French community. As she put as a closing sentence of her Valedictory lecture, “as an academic it sometimes feels as if writing does not achieve very much. What is needed is practical action on the ground and this is what I plan to keep doing for the foreseeable future.”
In her final years, Rosamund made an outstanding contribution to education in the City of Bristol. She began a phase of intensely practical activity to build new cooperative strategies across the city. Her contribution to the South Bristol Youth charity, a collaboration between the schools of South Bristol, both city universities and a wide range of supporters and delivery partners, was particularly significant. The charity’s evidence-informed programmes now achieve tangible impacts on the capabilities, self-confidence and achievements of young people within South Bristol. In her 2014 book, Education and Social Justice in a Digital Age, Rosamund affirmed the importance of providing all young people with opportunities to learn powerful forms of school knowledge. Among her final projects was the Future Brunels Programme which encourages young people into careers in science and engineering. As a trustee of the SS Great Britain Trust, Rosamund played a pivotal role in this development. It is no wonder that flags on the great ship, proud symbol of the City, were flown at half-mast when news broke of Rosamund’s death.
Rosamund funeral will be held in Bristol on March the 8th. A tribute can be made by donating to the Rosamund Sutherland Memorial Fund via Just Giving to keep Rosamund’s passion for helping young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to fulfil their aspirations of a university or further education opportunity. Please donate via the following link:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rosamundsutherlandmemorialfund
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