Mathematical gifted education in East Asia and the West: A comparative review and case study of Vietnam

Mathematical gifted education in East Asia and the West: A comparative review and case study of Vietnam

Hoang Phuong Hanh hanhhp@vnies.edu.vn Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences
Do Duc Lan landd@vnies.edu.vn Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences
Bui Dieu Quynh quynhbd@vnies.edu.vn Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences
Vu Tuan Vu quynhbd@vnies.edu.vn Thai Nguyen High School for the gifted
Le Anh Vinh * vinhle@vnies.edu.vn Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences
Summary: 
This paper aims to sketch a comparative review of the education of mathematical talents between Eastern and Western countries. In this study, East Asia refers to countries such as China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Vietnam, and the “West” refers to North American countries and Europe. Student achievement is determined by a variety of different factors and international comparative studies would seek to identify similarities and differences in educational policies and practices, unraveling the variables underlying the different practices. Within the scope of this text, the variables construed to be related to talent development include the traditional perception of mathematical giftedness, the identification regime, gifted curriculum and teacher capacity. The strengths and weaknesses of each of the systems will be discussed in light of educational perspectives regarding mathematical talent education. The second half of the text examines a specific case of Vietnam, a country with impressive achievements in international Math competitions. Discussion will focus on Vietnam’s mathematical successes and contributions in local and international contexts, as well as the future fostering of brilliant children in mathematics.
Keywords: 
Gifted education
mathematics education
case study
comparative review
Vietnam Education
Refers: 

[1] Blömeke, S., Suhl, U., & Döhrmann, M. (2013). Assessing strengths and weaknesses of teacher knowledge in Asia, Eastern Europe and Western countries: Differential item functioning in TEDS-M. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 11(4), 795- 817. doi:10.1007/s10763-013-9413-0

[2] Brandl, M. (2011). High attaining versus (highly) gifted pupils in mathematics: a theoretical concept and an empirical survey. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the Seventh Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education.

[3] Brandl, M., & Barthel, C. (2012). A comparative profile of high attaining and gifted students in mathematics. ICME-12 Pre-proceedings, 1429-1438.

[4] Brody, L., & Stanley, J. (2005). Youths who reason exceptionally well mathematically and or verbally. Conceptions of giftedness, 2, 20-37.

[5] Chamberlin, M. T., & Chamberlin, S. A. (2010). Enhancing Preservice Teacher Development: Field Experiences with Gifted Students. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 33(3), 381-416. doi:10.1177/016235321003300305

[6] Chan, J. (2007). Giftedness and China’s Confucian heritage. Conceptions of giftedness: Sociocultural perspectives, 35-64

[7] Cho, S., & Lee, J. (2015). Gifted Education in the Republic of Korea: Nurturing Creativity of the STEM Talented Students. In D. Y. D. C. C. K. (Eds) (Ed.), Gifted education in Asia: Problems and prospects (pp. 97- 119): Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing Inc.

[8] Dang, H.-A. H., & Rogers, F. H. (2016). The decision to invest in child quality over quantity: Household size and household investment in education in Vietnam. The World Bank Economic Review, 30(1), 104-142

[9] Gavin, M. K., Casa, T. M., Adelson, J. L., Carroll, S. R., Sheffield, L. J., & Spinelli, A. M. (2007). Project M3: Mentoring Mathematical Minds—A ResearchBased Curriculum for Talented Elementary Students. Journal of Advanced Academics, 18(4), 566-585. doi:10.4219/jaa-2007-552

[10] Government Office. (2010a). Decision No 959/QĐ-TTg approving the project on developing a system of gifted high school for the period 2010-2020.

[11] Government Office. (2010b). Decision No. 1483/QD-TTg approving the National Program for the Development of Mathematics from 2010 to 2020.

[12] Hanh, H., & Thu, L. (2020). Vietnam Mathematics ranked 35-40 in the world and topped the ASEAN region

[13] Hong, H. (2007). Gifted Education in Singapore: The Nanyang Primary School Experience. Paper presented at the ICP Conference Auckland, Auckland.

[14] Ibata-Arens, K. (2012). Race to the Future: Innovations in Gifted and Enrichment Education in Asia, and Implications for the United States. Administrative Sciences, 2, 1-25. doi:10.3390/admsci2010001

[15] IMO. (2020). International Mathematical Olympiad Results

[16] Karp, A. (2010). Teachers of the mathematically gifted tell about themselves and their profession. Roeper Review, 32(4), 272-280

[17] Kim, M. (2016). A meta-analysis of the effects of enrichment programs on gifted students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 60(2), 102-116

[18] Krutetskii, V. (1976). The Psychology of Mathematical Abilities in Schoolchildren (Chicago, The University of Chicago).

[19] Laili, N., Vibraena, N. S. S. V. M., Junaidi, A. R., & Dewantoro, D. A. (2020). Gifted Education in ASEAN. Paper presented at the 2nd Early Childhood and Primary Childhood Education (ECPE 2020).

[20] Leung, F. K. S. (2001). In Search of an East Asian Identity in Mathematics Education. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 47(1), 35-51. doi:10.1023/A:1017936429620

[21] Leung, F. K. S., Park, K., Shimizu, Y., & Xu, B. (2015). Mathematics Education in East Asia, Cham.

[22] Leversha, G. (2017). Special secondary schools for the mathematically talented: an international panorama by Bruce R. Vogeli (ed), pp. 438,£ 134, ISBN 978-9-81466-746-3, World Scientific (2015). The Mathematical Gazette, 101(550), 161-162.

[23] Lithner, J. (2008). A research framework for creative and imitative reasoning. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 67(3), 255-276. doi:10.1007/s10649- 007-9104-2

[24] Matsumoto, N. (2007). Giftedness in the culture of Japan. In (pp. 349-376): Lawrence Erlbaum Association: Mahwah, NJ, USA.

[25] Mihaela Singer, F., Jensen Sheffield, L., Freiman, V., & Brandl, M. (2016). Research on and activities for mathematically gifted students: Springer Nature

[26] MOET. (2006). Instruction No. 10803 / BGDĐT-GDTrH on guiding the implementation of specialized subject programs of gifted high schools

[27] MOET. (2014). Circular 12/2014/TT-BGDĐT on the regulations of organisation and operation of gifted schools. Hanoi

[28] MOET. (2018). Resolution 20/2018/ TT-DBGĐT on Regulation on on professional standards of teachers working in general education institutions.

[29] MOET. (2022). Confrence on the Consolidation of the National Gifted schools development project 2010 - 2020.

[30] Neihart, M., & Tan, L. S. (2015). Gifted education in Singapore. Gifted Education in Asia: Problems and Prospects, 77.

[31] Neihart, M., & Teo, C. T. (2013). Addressing the Needs of the Gifted in Singapore. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 36(3), 290-306. doi:10.1177/0162353213494821

[32] Nguyen, M. H. T., Hoang, N. P. T., & Nong, M. T. (2016). Stress faced by gifted Vietnamese students: what might contribute to it? Health Psychology Report, 4(1), 16-23.

[33] Nguyen, T. T. U. (2013). Tác động của toàn cầu hóa đến truyền thống hiếu học của dân tộc Việt Nam hiện nay.

[34] Park, K. (2004). Gifted education in Korea. The report on mathematics education in Korea. Copenhagen: The Korean presentation at ICMI, 10.

[35] Phan Thao, M. D. (2020). towards school is really a place for fostering talents - Lesson 3: strong Investment and reforming

[36] Phillipson, S. N., Phillipson, S., & Eyre, D. M. (2011). Being Gifted in Hong Kong:An Examination of the Region’s Policy for Gifted Education. Gifted Child Quarterly, 55(4), 235-249. doi:10.1177/0016986211421959

[37] Poon, A. Y. (1998). Investigating Hong Kong’s medium of instruction policy proposed in the Education Commission report no. 4 in 1990. Queensland University of Technology

[38] Rindermann, H., & Heller, K. A. (2005). The benefit of gifted classes and talent schools for developing students’ competences and enhancing academic selfconcept. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie, 19(3), 133-136.

[39] Rotigel, J. V., & Fello, S. (2004). Mathematically gifted students: How can we meet their needs? Gifted Child Today, 27(4), 46-51.

[40] Sheffield, L. J. (1995). Report of the NCTM task force on the mathematically promising. NCTM News Bulletin, 32.

[41] Singh, K., Granville, M., & Dika, S. (2002). Mathematics and science achievement: Effects of motivation, interest, and academic engagement. The Journal of Educational Research, 95(6), 323-332

[42] Subotnik, R. F., Robinson, A., Callahan, C. M., & Gubbins, E. J. Malleable Minds: Translating Insights From Psychology.

[43] Sumida, M. (2013). Emerging Trends in Japan in Education of the Gifted: A Focus on Science Education. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 36(3), 277-289. doi:10.1177/0162353213493534

[44] Thang, V. V. (2006). Hiếu học-một giá trị văn hóa truyền thống của dân tộc Việt Nam cần được kế thừa và phát huy.

[45] TIMSS. (2019). U.S. Highlights Web Report.

[46] Tran, T. T. (2020). Why do exam papers to gifted schools ask so many above-level questions? The Saigon times.

[47] Unit, G. E. (1994). Gifted Education in Singapore–The first Ten Years. Singapore. Gifted Education Unit, Ministry of Education

[48] VanTassel-Baska, J., & Brown, E. F. (2007). Toward best practice: An analysis of the efficacy of curriculum models in gifted education. Gifted Child Quarterly, 51(4), 342-358.

[49] VIASM. (2019). Training Information for Math teachers teaching in gifted schools.

[50] Vilkomir, T., & O’Donoghue, J. (2009). Using components of mathematical ability for initial development and identification of mathematically promising students. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 40(2), 183-199. doi:10.1080/00207390802276200

[51] VNIES. (2021). The significance and effectiveness of gifted school system in Vietnam.

[52] Vu, P. (2011). Gifted Studends’ Profiles and Their Attitudes Towards a Gifted Program: The Case of Vietnam. Gifted and Talented International, 26(1-2), 81-87. do i:10.1080/15332276.2011.11673591

[53] Wolfle, J. A. (1986). Enriching the mathematics program for middle school gifted students. Roeper Review, 9(2), 81-85.

[54] Work, W. D. V. W. (2018). Gender Gap in Earnings in Vietnam.

[55] Yang, W. (2004). Education of gifted and talented children: What’s going on in China. Gifted Education International, 18(3), 313-325.

[56] Zhang, Z. (2017). Gifted education in China. Cogent Education, 4(1), 1364881.

Articles in Issue