Learning Maths: Using the Asian Way

Having left school, decades ago, with not very good grades in maths, I wonder whether I would have been better, from using the magic of the Asian way. But that's long before we started comparing GCE scores between the UK, Hong Kong and Singapore and more recently China. In those days as long as we passed English, Maths and Science 'O' levels and had three 'A' levels of any discipline (I did art, biology and geography) we would enter any Commonwealth University. 

Leap forward more than 50 years, it's a different story. So is that why the UK government is providing £41million for the funding for primary schools interested in pursuing the Asian methods of teaching maths. The UK department for education says the mastery methods involve students learning as a whole class, supported by high quality text books. Objects and pictures are used to demonstrate and visualize abstract concepts, numbers and symbols. 700 teachers are to be changed to support maths mastery in schools. Later, hubs of 35 school-led centres of excellence in maths teaching will expand the concept. Students who are poor in maths will benefit from specialist teachers help and quality text books.

 As a right 'brainer' with good artistic and visual spatial ability, I wish this system would have been in place in my primary school. I had to have private tuition in maths, to be able to get into a good secondary school and pass the common entrance exam. In those days we were ashamed to admit we needed private tuition. Now, in places like Malaysia and Hong Kong, almost all students enroll in private tuition, provided their parents can afford it. It has become a lucrative and thriving industry. Even school teachers take up tuition part- time, in order to supplement the relatively low salaries paid in Malaysian government schools. By contrast, Singapore teachers are paid better, and in the UK, senior teachers and school principals are paid very well. And, in general, class sizes are smaller in the UK. 

But despite this, professional school teacher’s training and development is still vital for their increase in expertise. It is also important to promote the use of initiatives to attract bright and enthusiastic teachers. In the UK, teaching is still considered a noble profession, leading to a good career. In fact, the number of maths teachers recruited is at an all-time high. Bursaries and scholarships for post graduate teachers in maths who need a 2.2 basic degree can receive up to UKP25,000. 

What worries me, is that many effective accelerated learning techniques are yet to enter into the mainstream teacher education syllabus. Admittedly we do now find that Gardner's multiple intelligences model is becoming more widely recognized, as well the use of learning styles assessment among students. But these preferred styles of learning at primary school, can differ slightly after puberty, due to the maturation of the corpus callosum (that massive web of nerve fibres that  connect the two hemispheres of the brain).

Once students are in secondary school, their abilities to speed up the iteration between our left and right brain, can greatly enhance several aspects of learning, such as abstract conceptual thinking. Also the translation of Chinese language,  which is, symbolic, graphic and visual, into English. Or, the integration of 60 beat music and learning maths concepts and how the two brain hemispheres work in harmony, rather than conflict. Therefore learning styles introduced before and after puberty may differ. But alas, many teachers use the same interpretation of learning style preferences for all ages.

However, some believe that learning styles alone is not the magic bullet, and other factors are also important. These include previously learned knowledge, the motivation to lean or the complexity of the skills, as well as the learning environment. Then there is the pace or pressure and stress of the learning, or how much fun there is in the process. In other words, is the environment conducive and are we enjoying the process with a positive perception, that the outcomes will be beneficial and rewarding.

How many of the above factors are considered in the learning design and the teaching of maths in the Asian methods. I would like to refer you to an excellent article by Peter Kline (author of the Everyday Genius) that appears in a recent issue of the International Journal of Inter-Disciplinary Learning. This can be downloaded from the Cambridge Global Learning (UK) website:www.cambridgegl.co.uk. Peter tells a great story on teaching algebra, which was my worst nightmare in ‘O’ level maths. I wish he had been my maths teacher back then. Or, would I have faired better using the Asian methods. Who knows!

Cultural Differences in Learning: Are the Best Teaching Methods Chinese or British?

This is my fourth and final blog in the 4 weekly quartet on the experiment  to apply 4 weeks  of Chinese teaching methods in a class of fifty, 13 – 14 year old British students in a UK school. So which was the best method?

At the end of ‘term’ comparative exams, between the experimental 50 British students, and the remainder of students who had been following the normal British routine  - the Chinese methods won overall. Here were the results in averages:

METHODS USED	MATHS SCORE	MANDARIN SCORES	SCIENCES SCORES
Chinese	67.74%	46.0%	58.33%
British	54.84%	36.6%	6.00%
Differences	12.9	9.4	52.33

So clearly, the Chinese method proved to win out in the end. However, some  factors need to be considered. The average classroom contact hours were twice as long (12 vs 6 hrs per day). Classroom size of 50 students was large compared to average British numbers (20 – 25 students). Initially, only a small number if British students adapted well to the rigor and discipline, and they may have done well academically, anyway. It took the Chinese teachers 2 – 3 weeks to ‘win over’ the remainder of kids, who were really resisting the Chinese methods, giving up easily. Had the experiment continued, they may all have adapted, and actually done even better.

A British teacher observed that students are grouped according to ability, and his philosophy is that learning must be fun and students must enjoy classes. The respect earned by British teachers is that, with smaller classes, and this philosophy, students come to view a teacher more as facilitator and coach. The teacher focuses more on the personality of students and helping them discover their potential holistically and independently. Students are encouraged to think critically and have individual opinions. 

The Chinese teachers in this said they would like to get more respect, although towards the end, they did. When the results came out, the students were actually elated, and hugged the Chinese teachers. Their strict discipline paid off in the end. Also, comparing the long hours of formal classroom teaching and then review of learning in groups,  plus 3 – 4 hours homework (up to 16 hours in total per day) the results should be better anyway. 

Overall, the comparison was probably not fair as the other British students only put in 50% of the hours. But herein lies the big differences in a system, not just a culture! The population of China is immense, so the competition and family pressure to excel, is far greater. The same pressure is on teachers, so school pride is nearly as strong as national pride.

This, is again where British kids have it much more easy and probably enjoy school much more. If I were to compare my own school experience, while I didn’t excel academically until well after school, I have great memories of a rich and holistic learning, with freedom of expression (eg: through debating, acting, art and classes on comparative philosophies) as well as many other subjects of choice and a wide range of co-curricula activities.

After morning classes, every afternoon, I had a choice to swim, shoot, play squash, tennis or fives and rugby. I could box, fence, play chess, do rowing and even play billiards. I could join the cadet force, scouts, air or sea scouts and go camping, hiking, mountain climbing, kayaking or sailing.

So, I am not sure I would want to trade in all that choice, for the rigour of the Chinese education system. But then, I am not Chinese! I’m British. Look forward to your comments.

Cultural Differences in Learning : “The Chinese Experiment in the UK”.

In the last two blogs, I have been outlining the series of 4 weekly BBC Documentaries on an experiment where 5 Chinese teachers used their approach to teaching, on a class of 50 British 13 – 14 year old students in a Hampshire secondary school in the UK.

The Chinese claimed that the main problem with the British children, was Attitude. They didn’t see education as a right or a privilege and many didn’t tend to take it seriously. In fact, few children in the UK go onto University. Their ‘right’ was more an individual human right, to behave how they want.

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There was an incident, where one student brought a kettle into the classroom, and made a cup of tea. As the Chinese teacher was mostly in the front, she didn’t notice this, until the student accidently spilt some tea.  The teacher of course was mad and tried to discipline the student, but to little avail, as many other kids giggled and tended to feel for him.

The ultimate in Chinese discipline, is to report to the parents any ‘serious’ misbehaviour. So the mother came to the school and met the teacher. However, she sided with her son, and said that as a human, he has rights! She said her son was thirsty and had a ‘right’ to consume  tea if he wanted. She had even given him the kettle to take to school! There was an innuendo that the Chinese don’t enjoy freedom and human rights.

Eventually as behaviour continued to be uncontrollable by the Chinese teachers, the school principal had to be consulted. He said there was a need for a ‘Behaviour Management’ intervention. He spoke sternly to the class, and said there would be consequences for any misbehaviour. He said the students should face the front and not talk to each other while the teachers were talking.

He suggested the teacher use the ‘silence’ technique, where they stop teaching when students chat among themselves or play around, saying they would only continue, once they stopped and paid attention. But would that work on students who mostly don’t seem to care, and are bored and tired, and find it difficult to learn in response to the Chinese ‘Teacher Centred’  method.

It is worth noting that student and teachers are from one ethnicity in China. In the UK they are often more ethnically diverse in Urban settings, with both teachers and students coming from India, Pakistan, Jamaica, some African and Middle Eastern cultures, and even a few Chinese (but mainly from Hongkong). Most become acculturated and integrated into the British culture and many students might have been born in the UK, although their parents may be immigrants.

The question, at this point in the experiment is, will the UK students adapt to the Chinese way of learning, and how will the Chinese teachers cope? I will examine this in my next blog, as the experiment continues.