After a 14 hour flight, two Chinese maths teachers have arrived at St Marks Catholic School, Hounslow. Year 7 pupils will take part in an exciting exchange in which Chinese staff will educate them using Chinese methods of teaching. Pupils and teachers alike have been awaiting this moment in excitement after lots of preparation and planning. And after a warm welcome, the teachers had the opportunity to observe not only maths lessons but also see how a typical English school operates.
Two maths teachers from St Mark’s flew out to Shanghai in September to oversee and teach Chinese students with English teaching methods. It was noted that unlike the media has suggested the pupils were very similar to pupils in England; when teachers left the room the students misbehaved and talked. However they were much harder working especially with homework, which they had plenty of.
A series on BBC2 ‘Are our kids tough enough? Chinese School’ was hot topic in Britain, stimulating many debates about improvements needed in the English education system. Moreover in China it was a viral hit influencing Chinese educational staff with stereotypical uncontrollable English students. The Chinese teachers who arrived at St Mark’s did comment that they were surprised that the behaviour was much better compared to the behaviour they expected. They have been thoroughly enjoying their time at the school and both they and teachers at the school believe they have learnt a lot from the experience.
Emily Alexander
St Mark’s Catholic School
