Two weeks ago, I took time to have a look at Singapore approach to teaching maths at a one-day professional development course for teachers of maths. It was delivered by Dr Yeap Ban Har, who, according to the website mathz4kidzblog, worked for the ‘National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore for more than ten years’.
There is no two ways about it, Dr Ban Har was a superb presenter and an outstanding advocate for Singapore maths. One of the most interesting aspects of the programme is that he sees maths as ‘an excellent vehicle for the development and improvement of a person’s intellectual competences’.
You can find out much more about the approach, as well as how successful it is – Singapore being top or very close to the top of the international maths rankings. You can also investigate the content of the materials used to teach Singapore’s approach to teaching maths at Maths no problem!