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Chinese parenting has a worldwide repu- tation for placing a heavy emphasis on education， and according to a recent global ranking， the results are unparalleled.
Shanghai， the financial hub of China， took the media spotlight as it secured a No. 1 ranking in mathematics， science and reading in the Program for International Student Assessment（PISA） tests. The 2012 test results were released at the end of 2013 by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development （OECD）. The tests were based on surveys of more than 500，000 15-yearolds in 65 countries and regions. As early as in 2009—Shanghai’s first time participating in the PISA—the city scored top marks.
International educational delegations have arrived in Shanghai one after another to learn from the city’s experience in secondary education in recent months. For example， a British delegation of head teachers and education experts led by the UK education minister Liz Truss visited Shanghai in late February as part of a fact-finding mission to discover why Chinese students are so far ahead of their British counterparts. She found out that Chinese teachers possess a “can-do attitude to math” which would help drive up standards and give young people the skills to succeed globally.
During her visit in Shanghai， Truss reached an agreement with Chinese education authorities. In the agreement， England will bring in Shanghai math teachers this autumn to raise local performance. Up to 60 Chinese teachers will provide British pupils with master classes.
The UK is one of the leading countries in education， especially at university level. However， when Shanghai topped the PISA test in math， England was ranked just 26th. These low math abilities even follow into adulthood. According to a report by BBC， the UK has launched a campaign to raise adult math skills， with warnings that poor numeracy is costing the UK economy 20 billion pounds （$33.4 billion） per year.
Work hard and score high
An important part of the reason why Chinese students can do well is that they have a strong motivation to succeed， said Chu Zhaohui， a researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences.
Since the 1980s， Western researchers have argued that China’s exam-oriented education would discourage creativity in students. But Chinese students have unexpectedly performed better in many international math contests than their peers in Western countries. These contradictory facts confuse many educational experts. Some say high math scores should be attributed to the Chinese teaching method and curriculum， while other experts believe it is largely due to the high importance that Chinese families attach to children’s education. Gu Lingyuan， a researcher at Shanghai Academy of Educational Sciences （SAES）， analyzed the PISA results， noticing that for math， the primary and middle schools in Shanghai break down mathematical concepts in a stepby-step fashion that has proven to be effective. Through a set of well-planned curriculums， math teachers are good at guiding pupils to attain knowledge and advance their level.
China takes a different approach from Western countries when it comes to teaching math， said Gu. Western countries focus on mathematical logics， for instance， while Chinese teachers focus on algorithm and calculation. These two schools of thought have their own features and result in two different teaching methods.
In teaching mathematics， Chinese teachers follow a simple formula： repetition， repetition， repetition. The method is effective at helping pupils to learn， yet it increases the burden of homework as well. According to the PISA report， Shanghai students on average spend 28.2 hours in the classroom per week， ranking ninth in the 65 countries and regions surveyed. But they spend the longest on homework—an average of 13.8 hours every week， almost three times the report average of 4.9 hours. Math homework occupies the bulk of time spent learning outside the classroom.
Furthermore， Chinese schools emphasize classroom discipline. Students tend to follow instructions carefully and behave themselves. It is widely recognized that Chinese students are hard workers， and this high self-discipline helps students concentrate on efficient learning， Gu said.
However， in the opinions of some UK educational professionals， the Chinese method might not be adaptable to British pupils. James Dathan， the head of math at Neston High School in Cheshire， told BBC that the Chinese method of “learning by rote” would not help children engage with the subject. “Math is something that should be inspired and passionate and showing them where it is in the real world，” Dathan said.
vivian Ma， a math teacher at a Beijing-based international school， told Beijing Review she is not surprised that Shanghai students beat their British peers in math.
“In the UK and other European countries， elite education prevails. Unlike our compulsory education， only the best students will go on to further study math in the UK. Though not all students excel at math， those at the top tend to command positions in math research globally. The model of higher education in Western countries is worth learning from，” Ma said. Education reform
Apart from hard work， there is a strong reason Shanghai students perform best in the PISA.
Zhang Minxuan， President of Shanghai Normal University， said to China Daily that the performance of Shanghai’s students in the PISA report reflected the achievement of education reform in Shanghai in recent years.
Zhang is also the leader of the Shanghai PISA program. “The PISA assesses students near the end of their compulsory education in knowledge and skills that are essential for every student in modern society，” said Zhang.
“It is not for what they know， but for what they can do with what they know. In this regard， it has more positive meaning and influence in education. We are glad to see Shanghai has received such good results，” Zhang said.
Zhang said the PISA results showed that the city has managed to maintain a relative balance in terms of the quality of education， as the gap between students of low and high proficiency was very small.
Some Western experts argued that as the richest city in the Chinese mainland， Shanghai is able to devote ample funds to education. While that may be true， the compulsory education in Shanghai—just as in all of China—is geared to equip all children with skills in a variety of subjects， unlike the more specified education system in the UK， Zhang pointed out.
“The PISA results remind countries that if they want to be competitive in the future， the elite education geared to only a small number of people is far from adequate. I believe this is one of the major reasons why the UK education minister is so interested in Shanghai’s education，” said Zhang.
Moreover， Shanghai has long been at the forefront of educational reform in China. Education equality is an important goal of Shanghai’s reform measures.
In Shanghai， there are a great number of children who come to the city with their migrant worker parents. Due to poor economic conditions and residency limits， most migrant children have to enter into suburban schools that cannot compete with prestigious schools in terms of facilities and quality of teachers.
To improve education equality， between 2006 and 2010， Shanghai invested nearly 10 billion yuan （$1.64 billion） in school infrastructure in the suburbs to meet the increasing demand of children from migrant and relocated families， according to a report released by the Shanghai Education Commission recently. The report stated there were 1.19 million primary， middle and high school students in the suburbs in 2010， accounting for 70.4 percent of the city’s total number.
Infrastructure is not everything， however. Students’ scores are largely related to the quality of teachers and school management. For this reason， Shanghai has taken a series of measures to sharpen the teaching quality of suburban schools.
Since 2007， all prestigious schools in Shanghai have been ordered to help build and manage schools in rural areas in order to narrow the gap in education. The expertise of suburban schools has made a difference in recent years. For example， 51 percent of schools in rural areas of Shanghai have attained high marks during the latest assessment by local education authorities.
Shanghai also encourages prestigious schools to build branch schools in suburban or industrial zones where migrant and rural children account for the majority. In this way， children of poor families can share in the equal opportunity of quality teaching resources.
Furthermore， Shanghai gives priority to recruiting teachers of excellent standing. By the end of 2010， more than half of the primary schools teachers and 93.2 percent of middle school teachers in Shanghai had a bachelor’s degree or above.
Shanghai， the financial hub of China， took the media spotlight as it secured a No. 1 ranking in mathematics， science and reading in the Program for International Student Assessment（PISA） tests. The 2012 test results were released at the end of 2013 by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development （OECD）. The tests were based on surveys of more than 500，000 15-yearolds in 65 countries and regions. As early as in 2009—Shanghai’s first time participating in the PISA—the city scored top marks.
International educational delegations have arrived in Shanghai one after another to learn from the city’s experience in secondary education in recent months. For example， a British delegation of head teachers and education experts led by the UK education minister Liz Truss visited Shanghai in late February as part of a fact-finding mission to discover why Chinese students are so far ahead of their British counterparts. She found out that Chinese teachers possess a “can-do attitude to math” which would help drive up standards and give young people the skills to succeed globally.
During her visit in Shanghai， Truss reached an agreement with Chinese education authorities. In the agreement， England will bring in Shanghai math teachers this autumn to raise local performance. Up to 60 Chinese teachers will provide British pupils with master classes.
The UK is one of the leading countries in education， especially at university level. However， when Shanghai topped the PISA test in math， England was ranked just 26th. These low math abilities even follow into adulthood. According to a report by BBC， the UK has launched a campaign to raise adult math skills， with warnings that poor numeracy is costing the UK economy 20 billion pounds （$33.4 billion） per year.
Work hard and score high
An important part of the reason why Chinese students can do well is that they have a strong motivation to succeed， said Chu Zhaohui， a researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences.
Since the 1980s， Western researchers have argued that China’s exam-oriented education would discourage creativity in students. But Chinese students have unexpectedly performed better in many international math contests than their peers in Western countries. These contradictory facts confuse many educational experts. Some say high math scores should be attributed to the Chinese teaching method and curriculum， while other experts believe it is largely due to the high importance that Chinese families attach to children’s education. Gu Lingyuan， a researcher at Shanghai Academy of Educational Sciences （SAES）， analyzed the PISA results， noticing that for math， the primary and middle schools in Shanghai break down mathematical concepts in a stepby-step fashion that has proven to be effective. Through a set of well-planned curriculums， math teachers are good at guiding pupils to attain knowledge and advance their level.
China takes a different approach from Western countries when it comes to teaching math， said Gu. Western countries focus on mathematical logics， for instance， while Chinese teachers focus on algorithm and calculation. These two schools of thought have their own features and result in two different teaching methods.
In teaching mathematics， Chinese teachers follow a simple formula： repetition， repetition， repetition. The method is effective at helping pupils to learn， yet it increases the burden of homework as well. According to the PISA report， Shanghai students on average spend 28.2 hours in the classroom per week， ranking ninth in the 65 countries and regions surveyed. But they spend the longest on homework—an average of 13.8 hours every week， almost three times the report average of 4.9 hours. Math homework occupies the bulk of time spent learning outside the classroom.
Furthermore， Chinese schools emphasize classroom discipline. Students tend to follow instructions carefully and behave themselves. It is widely recognized that Chinese students are hard workers， and this high self-discipline helps students concentrate on efficient learning， Gu said.
However， in the opinions of some UK educational professionals， the Chinese method might not be adaptable to British pupils. James Dathan， the head of math at Neston High School in Cheshire， told BBC that the Chinese method of “learning by rote” would not help children engage with the subject. “Math is something that should be inspired and passionate and showing them where it is in the real world，” Dathan said.
vivian Ma， a math teacher at a Beijing-based international school， told Beijing Review she is not surprised that Shanghai students beat their British peers in math.
“In the UK and other European countries， elite education prevails. Unlike our compulsory education， only the best students will go on to further study math in the UK. Though not all students excel at math， those at the top tend to command positions in math research globally. The model of higher education in Western countries is worth learning from，” Ma said. Education reform
Apart from hard work， there is a strong reason Shanghai students perform best in the PISA.
Zhang Minxuan， President of Shanghai Normal University， said to China Daily that the performance of Shanghai’s students in the PISA report reflected the achievement of education reform in Shanghai in recent years.
Zhang is also the leader of the Shanghai PISA program. “The PISA assesses students near the end of their compulsory education in knowledge and skills that are essential for every student in modern society，” said Zhang.
“It is not for what they know， but for what they can do with what they know. In this regard， it has more positive meaning and influence in education. We are glad to see Shanghai has received such good results，” Zhang said.
Zhang said the PISA results showed that the city has managed to maintain a relative balance in terms of the quality of education， as the gap between students of low and high proficiency was very small.
Some Western experts argued that as the richest city in the Chinese mainland， Shanghai is able to devote ample funds to education. While that may be true， the compulsory education in Shanghai—just as in all of China—is geared to equip all children with skills in a variety of subjects， unlike the more specified education system in the UK， Zhang pointed out.
“The PISA results remind countries that if they want to be competitive in the future， the elite education geared to only a small number of people is far from adequate. I believe this is one of the major reasons why the UK education minister is so interested in Shanghai’s education，” said Zhang.
Moreover， Shanghai has long been at the forefront of educational reform in China. Education equality is an important goal of Shanghai’s reform measures.
In Shanghai， there are a great number of children who come to the city with their migrant worker parents. Due to poor economic conditions and residency limits， most migrant children have to enter into suburban schools that cannot compete with prestigious schools in terms of facilities and quality of teachers.
To improve education equality， between 2006 and 2010， Shanghai invested nearly 10 billion yuan （$1.64 billion） in school infrastructure in the suburbs to meet the increasing demand of children from migrant and relocated families， according to a report released by the Shanghai Education Commission recently. The report stated there were 1.19 million primary， middle and high school students in the suburbs in 2010， accounting for 70.4 percent of the city’s total number.
Infrastructure is not everything， however. Students’ scores are largely related to the quality of teachers and school management. For this reason， Shanghai has taken a series of measures to sharpen the teaching quality of suburban schools.
Since 2007， all prestigious schools in Shanghai have been ordered to help build and manage schools in rural areas in order to narrow the gap in education. The expertise of suburban schools has made a difference in recent years. For example， 51 percent of schools in rural areas of Shanghai have attained high marks during the latest assessment by local education authorities.
Shanghai also encourages prestigious schools to build branch schools in suburban or industrial zones where migrant and rural children account for the majority. In this way， children of poor families can share in the equal opportunity of quality teaching resources.
Furthermore， Shanghai gives priority to recruiting teachers of excellent standing. By the end of 2010， more than half of the primary schools teachers and 93.2 percent of middle school teachers in Shanghai had a bachelor’s degree or above.