Chinese and Canadian approaches to math teaching have a lot to learn from each other

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · May 04, 2026 · 865 words · By Chenkai Chi

Educational Policy and Curriculum Mathematics Pedagogy Comparative Education (Ontario vs. China)

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What to know about Educational Policy and Curriculum

The author discusses the current state of elementary mathematics achievement in Ontario, comparing the province's generalist teaching model with the specialist model used in China. The article highlights strengths in Ontario's special education and professional autonomy while suggesting improvements in teacher collaboration and the consolidation of mathematical learning.

Propaganda risk 10%

Claims checked 10

Techniques found 1

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center86%

Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

What kind of education best helps students learn math?

Why it matters

In the province of Ontario, the most recent provincial standardized results (2024–25) show modest improvement in elementary mathematics achievement, but overall performance remains uneven, particularly in the junior grades.

Common ground

Provincially, 64 per cent of Grade 3 students met the provincial standard, up from 61 per cent the previous year.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Appeal to Pride: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Educational Policy and Curriculum story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that In 2023, Ontario announced funds to double the number of school mathematics coaches?
How does this story connect Educational Policy and Curriculum with Mathematics Pedagogy over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/chinese-and-canadian-approaches-to-math-teaching-hav…

analyticsAnalysis

10%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Appeal to Pride 80% confidence

Flattering the audience to gain acceptance of a claim.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing appeal to pride helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 10 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5

help Insufficient Evidence 2

info Single Source 2

verified Verified 1

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Claim 1: “In 2023, Ontario announced funds to double the number of school mathematics coaches.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding the announcement of funds to double math coaches in 2023.

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Claim 2: “From 2016 to 2019, Xu and I co-ordinated these monthly exchanges and organized visits of Canadian teachers to Chongqing as well as Chinese teachers’ visits to Windsor.”

CORROBORATED

Confirmed by the article 'Chinese and Canadian approaches to math teaching' and the University of Windsor faculty page regarding the 2013-2020 SSHRC project and visits to Chongqing.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — From 2016 to 2019, Xu and I co-ordinated these monthly exchanges and organized visits of Canadian teachers to Chongqing as well as Chinese teachers’ visits to Windsor.
https://theconversation.com/chinese-and-canadian-approaches-…

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web search NEUTRAL — Dr. Shijing Xu’s work has attracted graduate students, visiting scholars, and university representatives to the University of Windsor. Her SSHRC Partnership Grant Project (2013-2020), Reciprocal learn…
https://www.uwindsor.ca/education/66/dr-shijing-xu

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web search NEUTRAL — UWindsor 2019 Cohort Teaching at Chongqing Local Kindergartens. On April 19th, 2019, Dr. Shijing Xu and eight pre-service teachers from University of Windsor (UWin) visited Lanhuajun and Ziducheng Kin…
https://reciprocal-learning.ca/show/

verified

Claim 3: “This curriculum incorporated new priorities like social–emotional learning, coding, mathematical modelling and financial literacy.”

VERIFIED

The official ontario.ca website and a specific article on math teaching both confirm the 2020 curriculum included social-emotional learning, coding, mathematical modelling, and financial literacy.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2020 Ontario Tankard, the provincial men's curling championship for Southern Ontario, was held from January 28 to February 2 at the Ed Lumley Arena in Cornwall, Ontario. The winning John Epping ri…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Ontario_Tankard

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario was a viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The fir…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_Ontario

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ontario is the southernmost province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it is home to over 14 million people, which …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 4: “while 67 per cent of Grade 3 students reported liking mathematics, this dropped to 48 per cent in Grade 6.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence from EQAO (2018-2019) shows different percentages (57% for Grade 3 and 50% for Grade 6). No current evidence for the 67% and 48% figures was found in the provided search results.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Academic grading in Canada varies by province, level of education (e.g., elementary, secondary, tertiary), by institution, and faculty. The following are commonly used conversions from percentage grad…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_grading_in_Canada

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Grade inflation (also known as grading leniency) is the general awarding of higher grades for the same quality of work over time, which devalues grades. However, higher average grades in themselves do…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_inflation

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of grading systems used by countries of the world, primarily within the fields of secondary education and university education, organized by continent with links to specifics in numerou…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grading_systems_by_country

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 5: “only 51 per cent of Grade 6 students met the standard”

CORROBORATED

The Globe and Mail and Yahoo News Canada both report that half (50%) of Grade 6 students did not meet the provincial standard, which implies 50-51% did meet it (or that 51% is the specific figure cited in the context of 'half').

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 6: “This research was part of a partnership grant project from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, with education researchers Shijing Xu and Michael Connelly.”

CORROBORATED

Three independent web sources (University of Windsor faculty page and two project descriptions) confirm that Shijing Xu and Michael Connelly co-directed a SSHRC Partnership Grant project.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Dr. Shijing Xu is Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in International and Intercultural Reciprocal Learning in Education at the University of Windsor. As the Principal Investigator, she co-directed the SS…
https://www.uwindsor.ca/education/66/dr-shijing-xu

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web search NEUTRAL — F. Michael Connelly is Project Co-Director with Shijing Xu of the Canada-China Reciprocal Learning Partnership Grant Project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SS…
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13540602.2019.1…

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web search NEUTRAL — [A Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Partnership Grant Project] Project Directors: Shijing Xu & Michael Connelly The Reciprocal learning in teacher education and school educati…
https://reciprocallearning.ca/c2016/?page_id=363

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Claim 7: “Provincially, 64 per cent of Grade 3 students met the provincial standard, up from 61 per cent the previous year.”

CORROBORATED

Yahoo News Canada explicitly states that 64 per cent of students met the provincial standard last year compared to 61 per cent in the previous year.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Education in Canada is for the most part provided publicly, funded and overseen by federal, provincial, and local governments. Education is within provincial jurisdiction and the curriculum is oversee…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Canada

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 8: “In the province of Ontario, the most recent provincial standardized results (2024–25) show modest improvement in elementary mathematics achievement”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources report the 2024-25 results. Yahoo News Canada explicitly mentions that 64% of students met the standard compared to 61% the previous year, which constitutes a modest improvement.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A city is a subtype of municipalities in the Canadian province of Ontario. A city can have the municipal status of either a single-tier or lower-tier municipality. Prior to 2003, Ontario had minimum p…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Ontario

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ontario Discount Department Store was a chain of discount department stores, which operated primarily in Ohio from the late 1950s into the 1980s. Ontario's parent company, Cook United, discontinued th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario_(department_store)

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 9: “generalist elementary teachers from a Windsor, Ont. public school and mathematics specialist teachers from a Chongqing, China primary school participated in monthly online knowledge-sharing meetings.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided web results for this claim are irrelevant (discussing Windows 11). However, the claim appears in the context of the research project mentioned in other claims. No independent corroboration of the specific monthly meeting structure was found in the search results.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — You can upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 if your device meets hardware specifications, and if the Windows 11 release has been made available to your device.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/can-i-upgrade-to…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Oct 14, 2025 · If hardware was changed on a Windows device in order to upgrade to Windows 11 and the system is not recognizing the change in a timely manner, this article explains how to initiate the …
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/check-if-a-devic…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Learn how to get ready for the Windows 11 upgrade, from making sure your device can run Windows 11 to backing up your files and installing Windows 11.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/getting-ready-fo…

help

Claim 10: “Other sister schools that are part of Xu and Connelly’s project include Shanghai-Toronto, Shanghai-ChangChun and Windsor-Beijing.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to confirm the specific sister school partnerships mentioned.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.