UK education minister gets lesson in teaching from university chief
Print Edition
HIGHLY skilled teachers and good teaching practices are the keys to Shanghai children’s aptitude for mathematics, the president of Shanghai Normal University Zhang Minxuan told British Education Minister Elizabeth Truss yesterday.
Truss is leading an educational expert delegation to study the city’s teaching practices, for math in particular, after Shanghai’s 15-year-olds ranked first in math, reading and science in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests announced in December. England ranked 26th.
“We welcome all educators from the UK and other countries to come to Shanghai and study the PISA results with us,” Zhang said.
“After all, China has learnt a lot about education from other countries in the past.”
Zhang was keen to stress the importance of education and job training to the city’s teachers, whom he sees as pivotal to the impressive results.
About 97 percent of math teachers at middle schools in Shanghai are graduates of the subject, which means they have a deep understanding, he said.
In the UK, teachers don’t always major in the subjects they teach, he said.
Specialist teachers
“In Shanghai we insist on having specialist teachers. If the teachers don’t have a solid knowledge of their subject, how can they teach our children?” Zhang said.
The Shanghai Normal University adopts a mixed educational approach to cultivate good teachers. As well as their work in a specialist field, undergraduates are required to take courses on general education throughout their four years of study, he said.
The system also encourages job training, and all new teachers are required to complete 360 hours of mentoring with a veteran teacher in their first five years of work, he said.
Subject teachers are also expected to share their knowledge with each other and to continue their research beyond university, Zhang said.
“We make it clear that our teachers should be lifelong learners,” he said.
Another reason for Shanghai students’ success is that education in the city is very well-balanced. Leaders and teachers from good schools are often sent to poor schools to help them improve.
Also, the math curriculum in Shanghai has different requirements for different students. About 70 percent of the courses cover basic math and are aimed at all students, while 20 percent are for those with a deeper knowledge and 10 percent are aimed at elite students.
Truss said the UK is keen to improve its teaching methods, and education authorities have already launched the “Teach First” program, which encourages top graduates to work with children.
Curriculum reforms
“We did brilliantly in terms of research in math and physics and we have the highest citation rates,” she said.
“But what we don’t have is a pipeline for students to go through.”
Education authorities in the UK are working on reforms to the curriculum and examination systems to encourage more students to study mathematics and science, Truss said.
“Not enough students are taking these subjects at a high level, which leads to a great shortage. We need to address the problem in the long term, but in the short term we’re going to take measures to improve the quality of our teachers,” she said.
Zhang said all countries have their strengths and weaknesses in education, and that collaboration is the key to making things better for all.
“When East meets West, we should get the best,” he said.
Truss said she will learn from Shanghai’s methods as she seeks to raise teaching standards at British schools.
The UK delegation will today visit three public schools — Shanghai Fushan Foreign Language Primary School, Shanghai Jianping West Middle School and Shanghai High School — before heading to Wuhan City in Hubei Province tomorrow.
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