Britain, home to elite schools and some of the most famous universities in the world, is preparing to import teachers from China in the hope of raising the bar for British students in mathematics. Starting in September, more than 60 teachers from major Chinese cities will teach in a select group of schools in the United Kingdom, offering their English colleagues a demonstration of their teaching methods. A similar number of British teachers will instead take the road to China, to see Chinese teachers at work on their soil, and to observe how their Asian colleagues present the subject to their pupils and above all how they manage difficult children or with particular problems. The latest edition of the OECD-PISA survey (which tests the skills and competences of fifteen-year-old students) has sanctioned the clear superiority of the East over the West in the field of mathematics, placing mainland China (and in particular the province of Shanghai), Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea. Great Britain, on the other hand, recorded a not particularly brilliant performance, ranking 26th, in line with the OECD average (but Italy is attested on the 35th, clearly below the average). Such a result, even if better than that of the United States and many European countries, falls short of expectations and the British Ministry of Education has seen fit to take measures. Minister Elizabeth Truss, who visited China last month, said she expects a lot from this exchange program to boost mathematics learning in British schools. "Having high skills in mathematics" said Truss "constitutes an excellent potential for the future professional and the best guarantee against unemployment". At the end of the visit to the schools in Shanghai, the minister also declared that "in our country we have truly excellent mathematics teachers, but what I have seen here in Shanghai - and in other Chinese cities - has strengthened my belief that we have a lot to learn from them". A resentful comment comes from the National Union of British Teachers. In fact, a statement was issued which says that the Union does not see the need to resort to Chinese teachers and indeed finds it absurd, not to say ridiculous, to think that local teachers do not have enough experience and teaching skills.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/399543/england-brings-in-chinese-teachers-to-boost-maths-grades
