Shanghai teachers and students volunteer to teach in East Africa, mathematics education goes to the "Global South": Brazilian gold medal mathematics teachers visit Shanghai

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Brazil. On the 18th, the UNESCO Teacher Education Center located on Guilin Road welcomed a group of teachers from the southern hemisphere. In the bilingual communication in Chinese and Portuguese, the 2024 Brazilian Gold Medal Mathematics Teachers Shanghai Training Course was opened here. They plan to listen to classes, talk about classes, and teach classes in various famous schools in Shanghai within 10 days to explore the "secrets" of mathematics education in Shanghai, China.

A group of Brazilian mathematics teachers exchange ideas in Shanghai. Photo by Xu Ruizhe

Many of the teachers from the Shanghai Normal University Teacher Education Center who exchanged ideas with him had recently volunteered to teach in Africa, and returned to Shanghai with their teaching experience in the southern hemisphere. In the context of working together to achieve modernization in the global south and build a community with a shared future for mankind, Chinese mathematics education has moved towards the "global south".

The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference reported on the international dissemination of "Shanghai Mathematics".

[Olympic gold medalists come to Shanghai for training]

Liberation Daily·Shangguan News reporter learned that from 2014 to 2022, across almost half the globe, hundreds of mathematics teachers from the two countries visited each other in the China-UK mathematics teacher exchange program, and the "Teaching Research Group" entered many primary and secondary schools in the UK. The improvement of teachers' professional level has promoted the development of basic mathematics education in the UK to a certain extent, and British students have made significant progress in the PISA mathematics test. Through word-of-mouth communication by the British government and international organizations such as the OECD, the influence of "Shanghai Mathematics" has spread to Africa and even South America.

The official website of the British Ministry of Education promotes Shanghai teachers’ exchange programs in the UK.

The Brazilian gold medal mathematics teacher who visited Shanghai this time can be regarded as a "famous teacher" among the thousands of mathematics teachers in public schools across Brazil. How to build a channel for the dissemination of "Shanghai Mathematics" to Brazil through the "Brazilian Mathematics Teachers Olympiad" mechanism? In April 2023, the International Teacher Education Center of Shanghai Normal University discussed with José Pompim Oliveira, a senior expert of the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a high-end think tank in Brazil, and the initiator of the Brazilian Mathematics Teachers Olympiad, to select outstanding Brazilian mathematics teachers to come to Shanghai to participate in the teacher professional development training program through this competition. After discussion, the first batch of Brazilian Mathematics Teachers Olympiad gold medalists came to Shanghai for training, which also became one of the series of activities co-organized by the Consulate General of Brazil in Shanghai to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Brazil.

Visit the UNESCO Teacher Education Center. Photo by Xu Ruizhe

"The digital transformation of education is of vital importance to promoting a high-quality education system, modernizing education, and building a strong education nation." During a symposium on the digitalization of education in Shanghai, relevant officials from the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission introduced to their Brazilian counterparts that Shanghai was selected as the only pilot area for the digital transformation of education in the country, and is also one of the first provincial experimental areas for the national smart education platform, proposing the transformation requirements of "overall transformation, all-round empowerment, and revolutionary reshaping."

Chinese and foreign education colleagues took a group photo in Shanghai. Photo by Xu Ruizhe

How does a graphing calculator demonstrate matrix transformation? After their first encounter with Shanghai education, Brazilian mathematics teachers went from rational cognition to perceptual experience, and went to Shanghai Experimental School without stopping to visit the campus, observe classes, and discuss with their Chinese counterparts after class. Since then, their schedule has been full. They will go to Fudan University for seminars and Fudan High School to listen to a geometry class on "the positional relationship between a straight line and a plane" taught by a Shanghai teacher. In addition, they will also visit the Shanghai Jiaotong University Affiliated Middle School and the Shanghai International Studies University Affiliated Shanghai International Studies School. In addition to observing local open classes, Brazilian teachers will also give a "power function" demonstration class in Portuguese in the cross-cultural curriculum research course of the Shanghai International Studies University Affiliated School.

The World Bank’s official website introduces the “Shanghai-Tanzania Mathematics Teachers Professional Development Project”.

【Developing the global competence of STEM teachers】

This summer, the International Teacher Education Center of Shanghai Normal University and the UNESCO Teacher Education Center sent the Shanghai International STEM Education Volunteer Group to Tanzania to carry out teaching and research activities in grassroots schools, support the construction of local teacher professional development systems, and explore new tracks for the global competence training of STEM teachers before and after service.

At the invitation and organization of the Tanzanian National Institute of Education and the World Bank, the volunteer group conducted various forms of exchange activities in two primary schools, two middle schools and two normal schools in Tanzania, including open class demonstrations, cross-cultural group teaching and research, and lectures on China's education development experience. This spread the Chinese teaching and research group model to Tanzanian grassroots schools and supported the country's ongoing reform of the teacher professional development system.

At Diamond Primary School and Olympio Primary School, the two schools are neighbors, separated by only a wall. After a long discussion on teaching and research, Professor Huang Xingfeng and Zhu Jiawen from the volunteer group introduced the important concept of variational teaching to local teachers. Dr. Ding Ruoxi introduced in detail the integration of the Chinese teaching and research group culture "TRG" and the Tanzanian teachers' professional development activities "MEWAKA" at various stages of the China-Tanzania project. Although the high temperature environment without fans and air conditioners was difficult, the volunteers still insisted on discussing with local teachers until 4 pm - this became the daily work of volunteers afterwards.

The volunteer group held a regional teacher workshop for representatives of primary and secondary schools in Dar es Salaam at Tambaza Middle School. In the auditorium of Tambaza Middle School, about 150 front-line teachers, local education department leaders and local curriculum developers came from 10 am to 5 pm. The volunteer group also conducted teaching demonstrations and teaching research discussions at Tools Middle School, a girls' middle school with a long history. As a demonstration class teacher, Dr. Shen Yihua had in-depth discussions with local Tanzanian teachers on how to combine the teaching of "number pairs and coordinates" with real life and how to use teaching methods to build students' thinking.

The above is an exchange between Shanghai teachers and Tanzanian teachers and students.

Dr. Fika Makabangu, Vice President of the Tanzanian National Institute of Education, who was on a business trip, came back to join the Sino-Tanzania cross-cultural teaching and research on the day. After her study in China last December, she met with Chinese teachers and students again and experienced the wonderful process of the collision of teachers' ideas. This voluntary teaching aid mechanism of China "pairing" with East Africa will continue to develop.