The Chinese School BBC2

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Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: The Chinese School BBC2

Post by Guest55 »

Presmably you are aware that the reason China is at the top of the IMO is that they select and train from about the age of 7?

For me BMO is only part of maths - mainly pure and I value a wider experience of maths than that. Many of my post docs did not excel at UKMT challenges as it is not 'their sort' of maths.

Personally I think that we have a good balance at school although, with the new Primary curriculum focus on traditional computation methods, we are risking losing flair. I like the focus on problem solving but too many school seem to be ignoring the 'aims' and focusing on computation which is arithmetic not maths.
NanoNano
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Joined: Wed Sep 17, 2014 6:21 pm

Re: The Chinese School BBC2

Post by NanoNano »

Guest55 wrote: Personally I think that we have a good balance at school although, with the new Primary curriculum focus on traditional computation methods, we are risking losing flair.
Haven't watched the programme, so excuse me if I have misread this. But I think the traditional maths methods are far superior to the gridding and chunking that has been taught for the last few years. At a meeting with the teachers when I asked how you could use these new methods with decimals, the young teachers said they didn't know, and the senior teacher said you couldn't!

And as an aside, I do wonder about the new layout of classrooms which are no longer formal; I just remember from my HS that all the classes where lessons were taught in rows were well behaved but those in the less formal "splattered" approach were usually fairly disrupted. There was no difference in the the approach of teaching, just the room layout... you understand that is just my observation from my school days.
Guest55
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Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: The Chinese School BBC2

Post by Guest55 »

I don't want this thread to descend into questions about maths teaching but the grid method is amazing as it translates through to algebra right up to A level which traditional multiplication does not.

I use grid to teach completing the square (GCSE) and polynomial factorisation (A level) - much clearly then the 'older' methods.

You can multiply decimals, fractions and complex numbers using grid mulitplication - teh traditional method is much more limited.
Catseye
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Joined: Wed Oct 29, 2014 6:03 pm
Location: Cheshire

Re: The Chinese School BBC2

Post by Catseye »

I have some very close Chinese friends who still have strong connections to their home country, they do not rate the chinese model at all, they do not want their 2 children be automatons but creative and imaginative individuals(and indeed they are two of the most charming independent thinking kids I have ever met)
NanoNano
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Sep 17, 2014 6:21 pm

Re: The Chinese School BBC2

Post by NanoNano »

Guest55 wrote: You can multiply decimals, fractions and complex numbers using grid mulitplication - teh traditional method is much more limited.
Well obviously the teachers at my DC school aren't up to teaching it then as they had no idea. And I don't want to go off topic either but mine was an observation based on what you had already stated, Guest. And for the record I have never found the traditional method has let me down, and worked perfectly well for O and A levels, and also still works perfectly well when I need to work out prices/kg or whatever ad hoc in a supermarket!

It was just an observation, as I stated, so sorry if you felt I have offended you by disagreeing with the new methods (which the govt has decided were wrong anyway) but I do think we should all be allowed to have an opinion :-(
Guest55
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Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: The Chinese School BBC2

Post by Guest55 »

You've not offended me - the Government unfortunately did not listen to maths teachers or the experts that wanted to keep the new methods.

The new curriculum just says the old methods should be taught not that they need to be used but some schools are removing the choice by misreading the new curriculum.

The 'accuracy in calculation' marks at GCSE have increased since the new methods were introduced - give many adults a long multiplication to do and they will get it wrong. It's something we've done a lot to let parents know why we encourage pupils to chose the most appropriate method for each question e.g. 2015 - 1997 is best done in your head not by writing down a vertical calculation.
NanoNano
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Sep 17, 2014 6:21 pm

Re: The Chinese School BBC2

Post by NanoNano »

Glad no offense was caused; that was not my intention :-)

I still think old methods of multiplication/division are better than new methods and you can't change me from that. But I have been very impressed with the emphasis on teaching mental maths and all the "tricks of the trade", which we never had.

You say the curriculum says the old should be taught but not necessarily used, but then I have seen for myself that the teaching of both ways can cause so much confusion so they should stick to one way (the old way imo!).

Anyway I will catch the programme just so I can have a better informed opinion on it. I was only responding to your comment this time, if you understand that.
russet
Posts: 243
Joined: Sat Aug 10, 2013 12:46 pm

Re: The Chinese School BBC2

Post by russet »

I am very much a fan of the new methods of teaching maths. When dd went to primary, we were offered a course to explain these new methods to parents. Once explained, I could see they gave a much clearer insight.

Just to take one example: If you asked most adults what is 4 divided by 1/2, most would say 2. However, by drawing a number line up to 4 then seeing how many "chunks" of a half you can get out of it, it is easy to see the correct answer is 8.

One thing I did notice was that both methods of introducing sine, cos and tan was fairly formulaic. I realise it was only one small section of a lesson we saw in the programme, but I would be interested to know if maths is taught more visually than this in practice.
NanoNano
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Sep 17, 2014 6:21 pm

Re: The Chinese School BBC2

Post by NanoNano »

But if you have been taught the old style and you use it, then it is easy to work out the answer using the old method. I can do it in my mind because I can see the structure of the long division question. I too went along to the parents evening which is when I asked the question about decimals and the teachers didn't have a clue... so if some teachers (who are teaching OUR children) can't grasp the concept then really how useful is it? Sorry, off topic again but I am only replying and stating my point of view.
salsa
Posts: 2686
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:59 am

Re: The Chinese School BBC2

Post by salsa »

Guest55 wrote:You've not offended me - the Government unfortunately did not listen to maths teachers or the experts that wanted to keep the new methods.

The new curriculum just says the old methods should be taught not that they need to be used but some schools are removing the choice by misreading the new curriculum.

The 'accuracy in calculation' marks at GCSE have increased since the new methods were introduced - give many adults a long multiplication to do and they will get it wrong. It's something we've done a lot to let parents know why we encourage pupils to chose the most appropriate method for each question e.g. 2015 - 1997 is best done in your head not by writing down a vertical calculation.
My year 4 son was told that he must use the old method because that is what will be needed for SATs. He was very confused with the change over.
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