Marshall Cavendish organised the 2nd Marshall Cavendish Singapore Mathematics Global Forum from 22 September to 24 September 2011 at the Grand Copthorne Hotel, Singapore. It was a great opportunity to showcase Math Buddies to educators from around the globe, an online digital curriculum designed to support learning Math using the Singapore Math Approach. It adopts the same pedagogical principles from our Singapore Math textbooks and combines multimedia technology with instructional strategies to offer an engaging teaching and learning experience.
The forum focused on building global competence in schools, particularly in the area of Mathematics. Mr Sam Tan, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Mayor, Central Singapore District was the guest-of-honour at the global forum.
There were 150 attendees this year, with 50 foreign delegates, comprising of educational policymakers, curriculum specialists, teachers and education ministry representatives from countries such as the United States, Chile, Panama, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Brunei. Some key delegates include Dr. Alan Burke, Deputy Superintendent, Washington State Department of Education, Lucy Molinar, Minister of Education, Panama and Tim Gopeesingh, Minister of Education for Trinidad and Tobago.
Ms Lee Fei Chen, Head of Publishing, Marshall Cavendish Publishing Group, said “Marshall Cavendish first initiated the Singapore Global Maths Forum to provide a platform for dialogue on the strategies and best practices of the Singapore Maths pedagogy. As the leading publisher of all of Singapore’s mathematics textbooks, it is an honour for us to assist in building greater competence in Mathematics in schools globally through new insights and to develop educational solutions that meet the needs of teachers and learners in the 21st century.”
This year, the delegates will be taken on a tour of the National Institute of Education, Singapore as many are curious as to how our teachers are trained.. They will also visit Holy Innocents, Rivervale and Pioneer Primary Schools to witness first hand, theory and policy in action on how Singapore Maths is being taught.
The Ministry of Education, Singapore also conducted a sharing session about the Singapore Maths curriculum. They expound further on the Singapore Maths curriculum framework, and touch on the salient features and the processes involved in implementing it nation wide.
Professor S. Gopinathan, Professorial Fellow at the National Institute of Education shared with the audience on Singapore’s Educational Development, with special reference to Mathematics, Science and Technology Polices.
Dr. Richard Bisk, Chair and Professor of Mathematics from Worcester State University was on the topic, Improving Math Performance: Learning from Singapore. During the session, he shared how Singapore Maths curriculum is used in the United States to improve the mathematical content knowledge of students and teachers. He also expound further Singapore Maths curriculum’s influence on the new Common Core Curriculum for the United Sates.
Mrs Ariellah Rosenberg from South Africa touched on South Africa’s education system, and how South Africa will incorporate the Singapore Maths curriculum into their educational curriculum.
The Singapore Maths curriculum was launched in 1982 and has undergone several revisions since. The latest revision in 2007 continues to emphasize on conceptual understanding with a focal point in problem-solving. The curriculum was created by the Ministry of Education in a bid to address the problems Singaporean students were having in understanding Maths concepts. The programme has since evolved into one of the best and most effective pedagogies in the world with Singapore consistently ranked among top nations in international comparative studies since 1995. Schools in over 35 countries around the world have adopted the Singapore Math textbooks, published by Marshall Cavendish, with several adaptations to local curriculum requirements and languages.
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