This is a collaborative post: Asian education has always been distinguished by a special approach to teaching children. One of the most typical examples of a unique Asian education system is Singapore’s curriculum. In just a decade, this amazing country has developed a system of education that has no analogues anywhere in the world. The success of this system largely depended on the goals set by the government before starting the development process – increasing the level of not only education, but also the quality of life, economy and welfare of the population. As a result, profitability of all investments was high, and now Singapore is one of the most developed countries with a high level of quality of life and education.
But what makes this education system so sustainable? Sure, the effectiveness, productivity and success of its users – Singapore’s children.
Let’s see some of the benefits of Singapore’s curriculum that leads its nation to the top.
Singapore Math
After numerous studies, development scientists presented a report that mathematics (not languages, physics, geography, or anything else) has the greatest positive effect on the economy and welfare of a country. All efforts were devoted to finding a unique and at the same time effective concept of the curriculum. The result was building a Singapore Math system, which in Singapore itself called just math.
The innovative system is based on a philosophical approach to the study of mathematics. It radically differs from the European and American systems in that it is not based on cramming, but strategically develops independent thinking in children. Since early childhood, children are given the opportunity to think independently, to develop their point of view on everything in their space, to be able to defend their opinion, to challenge other opinions and themselves.
The system quickly gained popularity all over the world, and with the development of remote processes, it became possible to join the program online. eSingapore Math is an online platform which allows children (and their parents) to choose the program they need, take lessons, placement tests (after finishing each level), engage with teachers and develop (1) related skills such as heuristic analysis, modeling, and (2) metacognitive skills such as arranging a study space and schedule, monitoring mistakes, evaluating task success and etc.
Discipline
Flexible and at the same time structured lesson schedule develops responsibility and discipline since an early age of a child. Wide range of independent actions (expressing your point of view, finding solutions, correcting mistakes) doesn’t contribute to stress despite almost military discipline. There are also cadet groups for extracurricular activities for boys. Interestingly, this type of complementary lessons begins in the lower grades, which helps to learn the basics and develop self-discipline skills since a very early age.
Ethics
Teachers play the role of mentors who teach children not only the basics of mathematics, but also the rules of good behavior. For example, in case of disobedience, the teacher doesn’t raise his/her voice, but changes intonation and uses a certain appeal to students (mr. Yung or dear Li), which indicates a high level of perseverance and patience of teachers, the coming specialists of the country take an example of.
Conclusion
A distinctive feature of Singapore education is a fundamental philosophical approach to the mathematics curriculum. This is what leads Singapore’s children to becoming strong competitors not only locally, but also in comparison with students of standard world programs. The combination of scientific, communicative, social and a number of other knowledge and skills allows them to become a high level specialists, an independent citizen and an individual.
Despite the complexity and uncommon framework of the curriculum, it contributes to the gradual, but at the same time deep way of study of mathematics and other areas, which were mentioned earlier, and preparation for a large successful professional and social life.