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Original poster

Shanghai teachers

32 replies

teachersaspirations · 13/03/2014 20:17

I wonder what the Maths teaching fraternity's view on teachers being bussed in from Shanghai to show how to teach Maths?
I presume this applies to state schools only

Shanghai teachers flown in for maths
www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-26533428

OP posts:
BaBaSheep · 14/03/2014 19:51

I totally agree the problem started from the beginning of primary school stage. If we lost our kids during primary school stage we could lose forever. I believe the focus should be on the very young children. I believe one of the Chinese methods is practise and practise until it becomes a second nature then one can see the enjoyment of maths.

PiqueABoo · 14/03/2014 19:44

Shanghai is a special case: www.brookings.edu/blogs/brown-center-chalkboard/posts/2014/01/08-shanghai-pisa-loveless

Chinese makes arithmetic easier, both the size of the words and the consistent structure.

And so on...

All in all a bit of a waste of money for very little to make it look like certain politicians are doing something useful instead of selling state education off to their friends.

Original poster
teachersaspirations · 14/03/2014 17:51

Agree with Volcan wrt 'I am no good at maths'
that seems to be too cool to say
Also I think a lot of the problems are inherited from primary schools
and already too late or very difficult to rectify at secondary schools
the methods of teaching multiplication for example & the teaching of the tables
so it would be interesting to see the conclusions of the Shanghai team

OP posts:
BaBaSheep · 14/03/2014 13:00

Sorry for the errors above.

BaBaSheep · 14/03/2014 12:40

Also many Chinese kids believe in 'I can do better than my parents.' And ' I don't to have to live the way my parents live.'. I believe a better attitude towards learning need to change and develop from day one in primary school. Their want to be better than their parents drives them to work hard and take advantage of their schooling opportunities. Can our kids do that?

LaVolcan · 14/03/2014 12:19

Our whole attitude needs to change: the 'I am no good at maths' attitude, as though it's something to be proud of. Very few of us would boast that we couldn't read. A handful of Chinese teachers aren't going to affect this change. Having people with maths/science and engineering qualifications in positions of status might begin to.

BaBaSheep · 14/03/2014 11:56

I think the important ingredient is the can do attitude that is lacking in our kids and many parents and teachers. I don't believe there is a quick fix for the problem. Maths is a subject that require to learn and practise therefore homework. It is like learning music you learn your practise until you get it right then move onto the next stage. Although g and t will be an advantage if you haven't got that then just practise and think more to make up. I believe something like an average of 15min daily individual homework away from classroom environment will help a lot. But then in this country so many people don't believe in the usefulness of homework. I am interested to see what the Chinese teachers comments are re our learning attitude.