Weapons of math instruction(2)

Math matters

An economic analysis pointed out that poor numeracy costs the UK economy 20 billion pounds ($33 billion) per year, the BBC reported, adding that some 44 percent of the working-age population in the country only have the math skills of a child leaving primary school, according to UK NGO National Numeracy.

But not everyone believes that recruiting Chinese teachers and using the Chinese education model are good ideas for improving UK math skills. Some education experts expressed concerns that China's math education system relies heavily on rote memorization and sacrifices creative thinking.

Some UK parents reached by the Global Times also expressed these concerns, saying that if the schools introduced China's education model, their children would have to do lots of homework and would not have time to enjoy their childhoods.

Charlie Stripp, director at the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics dismissed these concerns, saying that learning mathematics and certain basic formulas are crucial.

Most UK pupils don't want to learn math, because they give up learning after encountering minor difficulties, the scholar said.

Many Chinese teachers also disagree that the Chinese math teaching model was only about reciting and loads of homework.

While visiting the Shanghai Fushan Foreign Languages Primary School, Truss observed a grade three junior math class playing 24, a card game involving arithmetic. Zheng Rujie, a math teacher at the school, said the card game is like "thinking gymnastics" for the students, and is a good way to practice the arithmetic required in the teaching curriculum.

Shi Huixin, principal of the Shanghai Fushan Zhengda Foreign Languages Primary School, said class teaching is just part of the work for Chinese math teachers. Teachers also correct students' homework and prepare teaching plans.

"While correcting students' papers, teachers can check their mathematical thinking and explain things to them when problems are found," he said.

Liu Zhongtao, a student from Fudan Senior High School, was among the students to take the 2012 international PISA test. He said he finished the two-and-a-half-hour exam with one hour to spare.

Tang Shengchang, head of the Shanghai Comparative Study on the International Course in Basic Education, said in addition to the teaching standards, Chinese students' high performance in math is a result of the society they are raised in.

He explained that in China, math scores are often used to determine the intelligence and learning capabilities of a student from primary school, and are used in the admissions process for higher levels of education.

"Both teachers and students feel pressure from the social environment telling them that math performance is important," Tang said.