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UK education minister advocates Shanghai method in maths teaching

Xinhua, February 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

Government schools minister Nick Gibb said there was much to learn from the Chinese approach to teaching mathematics in his speech at a British school released here Friday by the Department for Education.

"I have been most impressed by the focus teachers from Singapore and Shanghai place, not just on basic skills, but also on developing clear conceptual understanding," Gibb said.

According to international tests carried out by the OECD, 22 percent of 15-year-olds in Britain are functionally innumerate. Such a record places Britain well behind countries such as Korea and Singapore, and cities like Hong Kong and Shanghai in China, where the percentage of innumerate 15-year-olds is below 10 percent in each.

Shanghai teaching methods depend upon whole class instruction from the teacher, with constant questioning and interaction between the teacher and the class, Gibb said.

Gibb referenced a 2014 study published by Southampton University compared lessons in both Britain and China. The classes were videoed to find out what teaching methods were being used to such great success in the Chinese classroom.

"In Chinese classrooms, interactive whole-class teaching made up 72 percent of lesson time, compared with only 24 percent of lesson time in England. In England, almost half of the time was used up on pupils working individually or in groups, compared with only 28 percent of the time in China," Gibb said.

"But perhaps most importantly of all, Shanghai mathematics teaching is based upon the principle that, if taught well, all pupils can master the content of a lesson," stressed Gibb.

This focus, he said, means no pupil is left behind when moving on to the next curriculum sequence.

"The benefits of a good understanding of mathematics for pupils' life outcomes are inarguable," he said. "The phrase 'I am not good at maths' should be banished from English schools, as it implies current difficulties are fixed within a child, suggesting that there is no hope of these difficulties being overcome." Endit