IS CHINESE-STYLE MATHS THE FUTURE?

Text by Lena Gidwani Translation by Emma Xu Illustrations by Sandy-Z

IS CHINESE-STYLE MATHS THE FUTURE?

Text by Lena Gidwani Translation by Emma Xu Illustrations by Sandy-Z

In an apparent post-Brexit world, we're faced with a few uncertainties: perhaps an ensuing slowdown of export growth to the United Kingdom, a dampening of investment fl ow or even, heaven forbid, no more made-in-China Harrods teddy bears to cuddle.

That being said, this hasn't stopped the UK Department for Education from recently announcing that it's earmarking a staggering 41 million pounds of funding to help over 8,000 primary schools. The plan is to implement a 'Shanghainese' style of teaching called 'Maths mastery' in a bid to improve the competitiveness of the UK's education system.

So far 140 teachers from primary schools in England have been trained by the National Centrefor Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) to help schools adopt the mastery approach. The huge investment, spread over four years, will ensure the method is taught more widely, with an initial 700 teachers to be trained to support schools in maths mastery, and acquire the necessary textbooks.

Statistics from tests conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development clearly shows that Shanghai is the highest-performing area in the world, putting them three years ahead of their English counterparts in their mathematical ability.

Shanghai, you say? Oh yes. Move away, famed soup dumplings and scenic restaurants by the Bund, it's all about the Maths, 'bout the Maths, no kiddin'!

As a mother of two whose children were born and bred in China, it's safe to say that while I am proud of my adopted nation's mathematical success, I am also afraid. Are my third-culture, internationalschool-going children good enough to stand tall and proud with the locally educated children when it comes to the world of long division?

The westerners have always been accustomed to a more inquiry-based learning, celebrating critical thinking and individuality. But perhaps, just perhaps, going back to age-old techniques like repetition, regimented drills and 'chalk and talk' whole-class learning may just ensure a deep, secure understanding of fundamental principles and rules of the subject.

Anyone who understands the Chinese system of education will tell you that its cornerstones are daily routines and exercises, stringent discipline and longer hours at school. It's not for the faint-hearted, but all you need to do is look around today and marvel at the many feats that Chinese students have achieved, both locally and overseas. Personally, given the choice, I would love a combination of both worlds. But I will never actually see that, will I?

Till then, Shanghai, you ought to be proud. Who needs dumplings when you have quadratic equations in the bag?

COLUMNIST'S PROFILE

Working in an international school in Guangzhou, Lena Gidwani is a mother to a son and a daughter and resident of Guangzhou for 14 years. She enjoys flitting around from restaurants to cities as she discovers all that China has to offer.

Lena Gidwani在國際學(xué)校任職，膝下有一雙兒女，已在廣州居住14年，熱衷穿梭于餐廳與市井間去發(fā)現(xiàn)中國之美。

中式數(shù)學(xué)，大勢所趨？

脫歐后，英國經(jīng)濟(jì)面臨各種不穩(wěn)定因素，但這阻止不了英國教育部宣布投入4,100萬英鎊在8,000多所小學(xué)推廣上海式數(shù)學(xué)教學(xué)法。2012年以來，尤其是BBC紀(jì)錄片《面對中式教育，英國孩子夠強(qiáng)嗎？》熱播后，大批上海教師前往英國分享數(shù)學(xué)教學(xué)秘訣。經(jīng)濟(jì)與合作發(fā)展組織的統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)表明，上海學(xué)生的數(shù)學(xué)能力領(lǐng)先英國學(xué)生三年。

你說，上海？是！聞名的灌湯小籠包、如畫的外灘請讓讓，現(xiàn)在討論的是數(shù)學(xué)。

我在中國養(yǎng)育了兩個孩子，我為中國數(shù)學(xué)教學(xué)取得的成績感到自豪，同時也害怕！在數(shù)學(xué)上，身處第三文化的孩子能與本地孩子比肩嗎？西方人習(xí)慣了探究型教學(xué)法，鼓勵批判性思維，崇尚個性化。但是，回到傳統(tǒng)的教學(xué)方式，例如重復(fù)、標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化訓(xùn)練、填鴨式教學(xué)也許更能確保對基礎(chǔ)概念和規(guī)則的深度理解。懂中國教育體系的人會告訴你，這種體系的基礎(chǔ)是日復(fù)一日地強(qiáng)化學(xué)習(xí)、嚴(yán)格訓(xùn)練。沒有夸大其詞，中國學(xué)生確實(shí)在海內(nèi)外創(chuàng)造了非凡成績。有選擇的話，我個人更愿意這兩種教學(xué)方式兼容并存。

是的，上海，你是令人自豪的。有數(shù)學(xué)法寶在手，誰還惦記小籠包呢？