A UK-China math teachers' exchange program called "England-Shanghai Mathematics teacher Exchange: UK-China High Level People-to-People Dialogue" saw its third round kick off in Shanghai on Monday.
After the opening, a total of 86 math teachers from primary schools in the UK will go to 62 primary schools in Shanghai respectively for an eight weekday exchange tour. In January 2019, a delegation of 86 Shanghai math teachers from China will also visit 43 primary schools in the UK.
Launched in 2014, the program has seen a total of 548 teachers from both countries to participate. Beside for teachers involved in the program, another 12,000 teachers in the UK have learned from demonstrations by the Shanghai teachers, according to Paul Kett, the director general at the UK's Department for Education.
A new round of UK-China math teacher exchange program is launched in Shanghai Normal University in Shanghai, November 26, 2018. /Photo via China News Service
While the previous two rounds of cooperation focus on exchanges between teachers in primary schools, the third round which opened this year will carry the cooperation into middle schools.
The program includes research on math education theory, immersive teaching communications, field trips, and experience sharing, said Du Kewei, director general of the Center for International People-to-People Exchanges, the Ministry of Education of China.
By 2023, it is estimated that around 11,000 British students will have been taught in the East-Asian style of math teaching through the program.
A file photo shows that pupils from Shanghai Jiangsu Road No. 5 Primary School read their new textbooks in Shanghai, February 19, 2013. /VCG Photo
According to China News Service, the exchange program was negotiated by the Ministry of Education of China and Department for Education in the UK, and jointly carried out by Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and Department for Education in the UK, through Shanghai Normal University and National Center for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) in the UK.
The second round of the program was launched in 2016.
(Top Photo: Officials from Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and Department for Education in the UK sign the "England-shanghai Mathematics teacher Exchange and Cooperation Memo" in Shanghai, November 26, 2018. /Photo via China News Service)