60 years of math education in Singapore

1. 60 years of math education in Singapore Lee Peng Yee Nat Inst of Ed Singapore

2. Math education in terms of syllabus and textbooks

3. Interviews We ask 4 persons the questions • What mathematics did they learn? • What textbooks did they use? • How did their teachers teach mathematics? • How did they learn mathematics?

4. 5 periods in 60 years • After WW II to first local syllabus in 1959 • From syllabus A and B to syllabus C • Maths reform in the 70’s • Back to basic • The new initiatives since 1997 (refer to Soh Cheow Kian)

5. Singapore • Land area: 683 sq km (263 sq miles) • Population: 4 million • British colony for around 150 years • Independence in 1965 • A service hub for sea, air, finance etc

6. Maths Reform in 70’s • Introduced modern topics • It induced massive re-training of teachers • First locally produced textbooks • More peer learning and less reliance on teaching • Mathematics (up to Grade 10) made compulsory since 1974

7. Back to basic • It coincided with merging of different language schools and streaming of students • New syllabus with primary school textbooks produced by MOE • Calculators since 1982 and all examinations in English since 1984

8. First local syllabus • First local syllabus 1959 using the spiral approach • Options to teach mathematics as a unified subject or with different branches • Used imported textbooks • No statistics, calculus in Additional Mathematics (Grade 9-10) • Syllabus and teaching were traditional

9. Early days • Built more and more schools • Schools run by missionaries and local communities • No public exam and no streaming • Expatriate teachers and foreign textbooks • Chinese schools known to be better in mathematics

10. Summary • 1945 – 1960 Early days • 1960 – 1970 First local syllabus • 1970 – 1980 Maths reform • 1980 – 1995 Back to basic • 1995 – 2005 New initiatives (refer to Soh Cheow Kian)

11. Major events • Merging of different language schools • Streaming of students with different abilities • From foreign syllabus and textbooks to locally produced • From expatriate teachers to locally trained • From professional training to nurturing entrepreneurship

12. Outcome • Mathematics is taught in English • Practise differentiated teaching • More science stream students and mathematics compulsory • Build up local expertise in textbook writing, teacher training and research • Own system and nowhere to copy

13. Teach less to more Teach less mathematics to more students

14. Words in Chinese One aspect of cultural background • Teaching 教学 means teaching and learning • Learning 学习 means learning and practising • Parabola 抛物线 means a projectile • Radius 半径 means a half of the diameter

15. Looking forward • There will be a genuine reduction of content • We make thinking more explicit in teaching • There will be other modes of assessment • The use of technology makes learning more experimental • We expect an increasing use of resource materials in teaching

16. Teacher preparation • Highlight subject knowledge • Teach for exam and also teach for learning • Assessment for learning and not learning for assessment

17. Conclusion • The system is more structured and more officially regulated • It will remain so for the next 5 years • More room for innovation in classroom teaching • It depends on the availability of local resource materials

18. END pylee@nie.edu.sg Chicago 2005