An exchange scheme that gives teachers in England the
opportunity to share experiences with counterparts from
Shanghai has positively influenced the teaching of maths in
our schools, a report has
concluded.
A long-term study on the Shanghai - England Maths Teacher
Exchange, carried out by Sheffield Hallam University, has
concluded the project – the first of its kind – has had a
positive influence on the way maths is taught in the
schools that took part.
The findings have been published in the same week as the
world’s education leaders gather in London for Education
World Forum, and as the latest delegation of teachers from
Shanghai visit schools across England to showcase their
mastery teaching approach.
School Standards Minister said:
Standards are rising in our schools, with 84% of pupils
now attending good or outstanding schools compared to 66%
in 2010. We have looked towards the best education
systems in the world to help drive this improvement and
our work with China has been a key part of this.
As this report shows, the Shanghai – England Maths
Teacher Exchange has been a positive influence on our
schools, with the lessons learned from it having
demonstrable effects in classrooms. There has, for
example, been a marked increase in the number of primary
schools using whole class teaching rather than seeing
pupils split by attainment.
As we go forward, we will continue to work with our peers
in Shanghai to share the practices that our high
performing education systems are based upon.
The report is based on a longitudinal study carried out
between 2015 and 2017 that aimed to assess benefits for
schools and pupils.
It found:
- Teachers valued the exchange as a positive professional
development experience;
- Outcomes for teachers included enhanced subject and
teaching knowledge and increased confidence;
- Participants also reported that they could apply
experience gained from the exchange to other aspects of the
curriculum;
- The study also looked at the effect an early version of
the programme had on attainment and showed positive effects
at Key Stage 1 for those schools that adopted the programme
in full.
All findings around attainment should be viewed on the
basis that the programme has evolved since the evaluation
period.
The Shanghai - England Maths Teacher Exchange was launched
in 2014. Since its inception over 700 teachers from England
and Shanghai have participated in the exchange.
85 teachers from Shanghai are currently in England taking
part in the return leg of the most recent phase of the
exchange.
Afshah Deen, who is a year 2 teacher at Parkland Primary
School in Wigston, Leicestershire, and took part in the
exchange, said:
“Seeing maths teaching in Shanghai and observing how
lessons are planned and then discussed and refined by
teachers there has been the most interesting and rewarding
professional experience of my career.
“I’ve literally questioned everything I’ve done for the
last eight years of teaching. It’s really inspired me to be
a better maths teacher.”
The maths exchange programme also supports our work to take
the total number of English schools benefitting from the
East-Asian style maths Teaching for Mastery programme to
11,000 by 2023.
