Two-way learning through exchanges

Shanghai math specialist makes big impression in UK, and at the same time picks up teaching tips

Xia Qing, a math teacher with almost a decade of experience, has been invited to the UK three times for education exchanges.

The 30-year-old, who works at Shanghai Jincai Experimental Primary School, has shared her methods with fellow educators at Manchester Chorlton Park Primary, Hawksmoor Primary, Windrush Primary and the Bristol Metropolitan Academy.

She says the prime difference in how the countries teach children math boils down to one word: specialization.

"Chinese teachers are specialists," she says, "while teachers at British primary schools teach every subject, which is bound to affect their depth and precision."

The language barrier was Xia's biggest challenge during the exchanges. Although she prepared her lessons with a local teacher at each school, she says it was still hard as math has a lot of jargon.

The multiplication table was one headache. For example, she says, in teaching that 8 divided by 4 equals 2, in China, a teacher will clearly explain that 8 is the dividend, 4 is the divisor and 2 is the quotient. By learning each component of the formula, students should be able to solve similar puzzles.

However, she adds, in Britain, students are simply taught that 8 divided by 4 equals 2.

"After deliberating with my (local) partner, we decided to follow the Shanghai way of teaching," Xia says. "Based on the class reaction and follow-up lessons, I think it's necessary to explain the jargon in analyzing and interpreting the meaning of the problems."

Shanghai students ranked top for math in the Program for International Student Assessment in 2012. Since then, Britain (whose students ranked 26th that year) has welcomed over 120 teachers from the eastern Chinese city to share the secrets of their success.

Xia says she found during exchanges that textbooks are another major difference between the two education systems.

Chinese primary schools have a unified set of textbooks and teachers' reference books, which include clear goals for each subject and methods of implementation, but in the UK this is not the case, she says.

"There are no standardized textbooks, and it's up to the educator to freely select the teaching materials and to design the class content."

Nick Gibb, the UK schools minister, has made similar observations and has called for standardized textbooks to be introduced in classrooms, in response to evidence that British students are lagging behind those in other nations.

"In the UK, the use of textbooks is frowned upon in primary schools," adds Charlie Stripp, director of the National Center for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics, who has observed many Shanghai math classes. "The books in Shanghai are thorough. The teachers here (in Britain) look forward to using Shanghai textbooks with students. We want to take that as part of our education reform in primary schools."

Xia believes the exchanges she has been involved in were beneficial in two ways, as she took away useful lessons, too.

She says the study tools in British schools caught her eye due to their design and being multifunctional, but more importantly because they help students construct math knowledge in a more visual manner.

"The electronic whiteboards in most UK schools are something I hope Shanghai schools can look into," she adds. "They contain a wide range of teaching resources and some of the study software is like playing a game. Students have great fun while studying, which enhances their interest."

Lara Wolfe contributed to this story.

wangmingjie@mail.chinadailyuk.com

(China Daily European Weekly 05/20/2016 page8)