School report

Teaching maths the Asian way

English primary schools have received funding of £41 million to embrace the ‘Asian style’ of teaching maths. The method, used in Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong — all of which are at the top of Pisa’s study into the school performance of 15-year-olds — is more visual than the ‘normal’ British style of maths teaching, and focuses on children being taught in a mixed-ability group, rather than being divided into streams. The funding, announced in July, will allow 700 teachers to be trained in the Asian method, in addition to the 140 who have already completed their training.

At the moment, the UK sits in 26th position out of 34 developed countries when it comes to mathematical performance, and the hope is that the new Asian style might help to solve this problem. The system speeds up the teaching process, as well as introducing a physical aspect to the teaching; students are helped to visualise mathematical concepts, with the use of objects and pictures to demonstrate abstract ideas, as well as numbers and symbols. Schools minister Nick Gibb visited Shanghai earlier in the year to see the teaching method in practice, and believes this new approach will help create a ‘maths renaissance’ across the country. ‘I am confident that the steps we are taking now will ensure young people are properly prepared for further study and the 21st-century workplace, and that the too-often heard phrase “can’t do maths” is consigned to the past,’ he commented.