Gleaning the best of two worlds

Educators from the UK and China talk about the key learning points from their participation in a math teacher exchange program, Cao Chen reports in Shanghai. 

Ian Pegrum's understanding of the role of Chinese pedagogy in mathematics used to be limited to what he had heard from others-that it was based on rote learning which offered little room for creativity.

But after undergoing a two-week China-UK math teacher program that was jointly launched by both countries in 2014, the 33-year-old Grade 2 teacher at the William Bellamy Primary School in Dagenham, Essex, has concluded that the Chinese pedagogy is nothing like what it is often described as.

In fact, he has even described it as being "a carefully-crafted learning journey".

"Children in Shanghai actually have plenty of opportunities to express their creativity through problem-solving activities," says Pegrum, who has been teaching for nine years.

"Contrary to perceptions that the Chinese style is very rigid, there is also much discussion in the classroom about the merits of different solutions to problems."

Pegrum was one of the UK teachers who got to observe math lessons at the Shanghai Huangpu District First Central Primary School and Pudong New Area New World Experimental Primary School for two weeks in 2018.

As of February 2019, about 700 teachers in primary and secondary schools from both countries have taken part in the program, according to its organizers in Shanghai. The exchange program also sees Shanghai math teachers visit British primary and secondary schools throughout the UK. All the Shanghai teachers involved in the program are highly experienced and are required to undergo a weeklong training session before they arrive in the UK.