[Report by CAMAA] In order to improve the teaching ability and professional quality of the abacus and mental arithmetic education practitioners, and promote the sustainable cultivation of the inheritors of the intangible cultural heritage of abacus skill, according to the Opinions on Strengthening the Inheritance and Development of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic and the Professional Level Certification Standards for Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Trainers of Chinese Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association (Trial) (“Trial Standards”), both issued by the General Office of the Ministry of Finance, from December 23 to 27, 2020, the Second 2020 Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Trainer (Intermediate) & Abacus Skill Inheritor Training Course in 2020, sponsored by the Chinese Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association (CAMAA), co-organized by Xiamen National Accounting Institute and Beijing Caike Everest Technology Co., Ltd., was successfully held at Xiamen National Accounting Institute. A total of 125 abacus and mental arithmetic teachers and people using abacus skill and abacus and mental arithmetic at work from all over the country participated in this training.
(Opening ceremony)
On the morning of December 23, a brief opening ceremony was held for the training course. Wang Weida and Guo Shirong, both Vice Chairmen of CAMAA, Wang Yiping, Director of the Academic Affairs Office I, Xiamen National Accounting Institute, Zhao Xiangyi, Secretary-General of CAMAA, Huang Wenkun, Executive President of the Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Institute of Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences & General Manager of Beijing Caike Everest Technology Co., Ltd., Mi Huizhen, Deputy Secretary-General of CAMAA, and other leaders and guests attended the ceremony.
First of all, Director Wang Yiping delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. He said that this training course was the first activity that Xiamen National Accounting Institute had participated in as a co-organizer since it joined CAMAA in March 2020, and the school leaders attached great importance to the course. He also introduced the development history and school-running characteristics of Xiamen National Accounting Institute, and wished the training course a complete success.
Wang Weida, Vice Chairman of CAMAA, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. He said that this training course was intended to raise awareness and enhance the sense of responsibility and mission to inherit the abacus and mental arithmetic cause; to strengthen learning and constantly improve the professional quality of abacus and mental arithmetic trainers; to practice more and seek steady progress in the development of abacus and mental arithmetic education. He emphasized and hoped that all trainees could work hard to master advanced teaching ideas and concepts, exquisite teaching methods and fine style of work, and make qualitative improvements in inheriting the abacus culture, studying arithmetic algorithms, compiling textbooks and teaching plans, carrying out in-depth researches, etc., and strive to turn themselves to abacus and mental arithmetic talents with strong learning and research capabilities and specialized knowledge.
At the opening ceremony, Wu Meiling from the Finance Bureau of Yanbian Prefecture, Jilin Province, spoke on behalf of the trainees. As an abacus and mental arithmetic player who participated in the CCTV’s program -- “Challenge the Impossible” and successfully challenged the “Lightning-Fast Double-Brain Obstacle Mental Arithmetic”, Wu Meiling expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the teaching experts and CAMAA on behalf of the trainees, and said that during the training period, she would earnestly study and abide by the discipline, so as to promote the improvement of the teaching level of abacus and mental arithmetic and contribute more to the development of abacus and mental arithmetic.
The experts team for this training course include Wang Weida and Lu Ping, Vice Presidents of CAMAA & Senior National Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Teachers, Guo Shirong, Vice President of CAMAA and Professor (Tier II) of Inner Mongolia Normal University, and Zhou Xinlin, Professor of State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University. The experts carefully arranged the training course, prepared the lessons carefully, and achieved good teaching results.
Professor Guo Shirong took the history and uniqueness of Chinese abacus skill as the lecture theme, systematically introduced the development history of Chinese abacus skill from Song and Yuan Dynasties to modern times with rich historical materials, and expounded and proved the uniqueness of Chinese abacus skill from multiple angles, enabling all trainees to systematically understand the splendid history of Chinese abacus skill.
Professor Wang Weida gave a comprehensive and detailed explanation on the types, characteristics and training methods of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of abacus and mental arithmetic, leading everyone to consolidate the foundation of abacus skill, master arithmetic skills, and clarify teaching ideas, which formed an overall framework system for the training course.
On the basis of the Comparative Research Topic on the Effect of Three Typical Training Methods Such as Abacus and Mental Arithmetic and Their Brain Mechanisms, Professor Zhou Xinlin introduced the concepts of “non-symbolic arithmetic” and “ternary mathematics”; he combined advanced research paradigms such as cognitive function testing and brain science to reveal the mechanism behind the enlightenment function of abacus and mental arithmetic from the perspective of brain science; and he also welcomed cooperation with front-line teachers to further promote the continuous development of scientific research on abacus and mental arithmetic.
Vice President Lu Ping gave a detailed interpretation on the certification procedures, application qualifications, and trainer classification in the Trial Standards that the trainees were particularly concerned about, and taught the teaching design of multiplication and division of abacus and mental arithmetic, the writing of teaching plans, and the comparative analysis of abacus and mental arithmetic and written calculation.
In order to test the effect of the training, learn from each other’s strengths, and deepen the demonstration effect, this training organized trainees to give trial lectures at two evening classes. A total of 9 trainees shared their teaching experience. Wang Weida, Lu Ping, Huang Wenkun and other experts made wonderful comments on the trainees’ trial lectures. At the two evening classes, the students said they had benefited a lot from demonstration operations, on-site explanations, and communication and experience sharing on operating ability.
(On the site of the final exam)
In order to improve the professional quality of the trainees, test the effect of learning, and at the same time to facilitate the follow-up work of the abacus and mental arithmetic trainer certification, the national abacus skill level appraisal was added to the training course. A total of 71 trainees signed up for the appraisal of level 4, 5 and 6. Among them, 45 passed the appraisal, with a passing rate of 63.4%.
(Group photo of trainee representatives)
Through gathering, the enthusiasm of outstanding abacus and mental arithmetic teachers to study diligently is lit; while parting enables the intangible cultural heritage of abacus skill to be spread to the whole country. The closing ceremony of the training course was held on the morning of December 27. Vice President Lu Ping summarized the training at the closing ceremony, Vice President Wang Weida announced the list of outstanding trainees, Sun Darong spoke on behalf of all the trainees, and Deputy Secretary-General Mi Huizhen presided over the closing ceremony. The trainees said that the training courses was rich in content, reasonable in system design, and thoughtful and meticulous in conference services, and the lectures given by experts were clear and easy to understand. They all obtained a lot from the training course.
It is reported that the Professional Level Certification Standards for Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Trainers of Chinese Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association (Trial) was officially released on August 1, 2019, marking the end of the gap period arising after the original National Professional Standards for Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Trainers of CAMAA was cancelled on January 22, 2016. Since then, there has been a clear document standard for the certification of abacus and mental arithmetic teachers. The Trial Standards explains the certification standards of abacus and mental arithmetic trainers from four aspects: professional profile, basic requirements, work requirements, and examination work. In order to support the implementation of the Trial Standards, CAMAA launched a pilot program to train abacus and mental arithmetic trainers in August 2019. By December 2020, based on the authoritative team of experts, CAMAA and the abacus and mental arithmetic associations of pilot provinces and cities have carried out 4 primary training sessions and 2 intermediate training sessions for the pilot program. At the same time, the work for trainer certification is also being carried out in an orderly manner, which has effectively improved the teaching ability and professionalism of the abacus and mental arithmetic education practitioners.