Mathematics Curriculum Standards of China

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Mathematics Curriculum Standards of China

• Sun Xiaotian
• Central University for Nationalities
• Beijing, P.R.China
• Sunxiaotian_at_cun.edu.com

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Education System of China
Higher Edu
Grade
20
12
?
Senior
11
10
9
47
?
Junior
8
7
6
?
96
5
4
Primary
3
?
2
1
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Framework (or Standards) Construction

• The first one issued in 1950(Standards)

• And then in 1956?1963?1978 and 1986 (framework)
  successively but irregularly

• The 1986 version revised in 1999

• The latest version, Mathematics Curriculum
  Standards(MCS), issued in 2001(for Compulsory
  Education) and 2003(for Senior Secondary)

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Key Factors for The New MCS

• Government guiding
• Research projects support
• Ideas of MCSs working group

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1. Government Guiding

• The National Curriculum Framework for Primary and
  Secondary Education (NCF)
• Issued by the State Ministry of Education(2000)

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Main Principles of NCF

• The process of acquiring knowledge should be the
  process of forming the view of value as well
• Content should be associated with social life and
  keeping attention on students' interests and
  practices
• Students should be encouraged to take active
  participation in investigation, field work,
  communication and cooperation

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• Assessment aimed at helping students build their
  self-awareness and self-confidence and improving
  teaching

• The adopted curriculum structure is to be
  synthetic, balanced and optional

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NCFs key sentence is

• Developing students life-long desire for
  learning and learning capability

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2. Research Projects

• The relations of math science and school
  mathematics

• The relations of society needs and math curriculum

• The relations of math study and the healthy
  development of a students body and mind

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• How the students learn mathematics
• Understanding the trend and characteristics of
  international math curricula
• Most of the projects outcomes are included in a
  two volume collection

The 21st-century view for the math
education in China(1999)
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3. Ideas of MCSs of the Working Group

• All students should learn mathematics, and school
  mathematics should be essential, valuable, and
  appropriate to students need of learning

• The content of school mathematics should be
  meaningful, realistic and challenging
• The content should come with the processes that
  produce it

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• Math teaching should take into the consideration
  of the students personal knowledge and
  experiences
• Practice, independent investigation as well as
  cooperation should be an important way for
  students to understand and grasp the math
• In the math classroom, not only the teacher play
  a key role but also students play their parts

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• Assessment is aimed at helping students build
  their self-awareness and self-confidence, and
  helping teachers to improve their teaching

• Math curriculum should integrate the modern
  informatics technology

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MCS Participants

• Mathematics professors

• Mathematics educators

• Mathematics teaching field practice coordinators

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• Classroom teachers, most being expert teachers

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Two Groups in MCS

• Compulsory Education

• Senior secondary Education

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To design MSC is to carry out a research project.
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Selection of the Group

• The MCS project is open to all interested
  research groups
• The state ministry of education decides the
  qualified participant groups
• The ministry may reorganize the group if
  necessary
• e.g. The group for senior is a reorganized one

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Before the MSC becomes official(compulsory
version as an example)

• For feedback, the MSCs blueprint was published
  in eight different magazines specialized in
  education and mathematics
• 10000 copies of the draft version(with
  questionnaire paper) were also distributed for
  feedback

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• The whole country was divided into 9 parts, and
  three professionals invited for each part to hear
  feedback
• Invited several academic members of China
  Scientific Academy and university presidents to
  hear feedback

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The Structure of MCS
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Basic Rationale
Compulsory Education
Design Consideration
Overall Objectives
Stage Objectives
Space Figures
Numbers Algebra
Statistics Probability
Practical Activities Integrated Applications
Evaluation Recommendations
Teaching Recommendations
Teaching Materials Editing Recommendations
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Basic Rationale
Senior Secondary education
Design Consideration
Overall Objectives
Stage Objectives
Compulsory Curriculum
Optional Curriculum
Math 2
Math 1
Series 1
Math 4
Math 5
Math 3
Series 2
Series 3
Series 4
Evaluation Recommendations
Teaching Recommendations
Teaching Materials Editing Recommendations
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Achievement and Progress

• Until now, there are 21 different experimental
  version textbook series in use
• Six for primary level, nine for junior secondary,
  six for senior secondary.

• In 2001, these textbooks were used for about 1
  of all students in the country

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• Starting from the fall of 2005, all the primary
  junior secondary schools have adopted the new
  textbook series for the beginning grades.

• The new textbook series have been used for their
  all Grade Nine students (senior) in 5 provinces.

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Main Difficulties in the Process of
Implementation

• Teachers training
• The singleness of the reference frame
• Lack of meaningful teaching material
• In teaching, more emphasis on imitation than on
  investigation
• Carrying out the philosophies for assessment and
  examination

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Debate

• Realistic vs formal more or less
• the traditional teaching system stronger or
  weaker
• The speed of implementing quick or slow
• Being scrupulous(conscientious and exact) or
  being active Can the balance be kept?
• Two basics (basic knowledge and skills)
  stronger or weaker

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Revision Ongoing(only the compulsory version )

• Over 1000 questionnaires received from among the
  teachers in April, 2003
• 1st revision carried out during
  Oct,2003-June,2004
• 2nd revision starting from April,2005
• The publication of the revised one is scheduled
  for the end of 2005

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• Thanks