Most of us have heard of 'Tiger Mom' or at least understand the concept of highly driven parent-children systems that seem abundant in Eastern schooling. The idea is simple: a proper education is the way to success. However, success as near-perfection and the means to that success is what strike Western culture as 'politically incorrect.' To site a Times article entitled "Tiger Moms: Is tough parenting really the answer," the writer often describes the Chinese 'Tiger mom' Amy Chua as "ruthless", "traditional", and "mocking." Chua states that Western culture cultivates 'losers', touts the idea that "‘everyone is special in their special own way. Even losers are special in their own special way.'" The cultural clash is even exhibited in the Yale professor's own home, when Chua's American husband tries convincing his wife to ease up (too little avail).
There is also no assumed weakness of childhood; "assume strength, not frailty, and as a result they behave very differently." Psychologically speaking, Chua is correct. According to Hara Estroff Marano (author of "A Nation of Wimps" and editor-at-large of Psychology Today) "...research demonstrates that children who are protected from grappling with difficult tasks don't develop what psychologists call 'mastery experiences...Kids who have this well-earned sense of mastery are more optimistic and decisive; they've learned that they're capable of overcoming adversity and achieving goals." As painful as it seem, there is definite science behind the sharp methods.
Overall, Chinese students rank first in the world in math, reading, and science while the U.S. ranks 17th. Revenue in the Asian country is also higher: to date, the Chinese economy is at more than 10% annual growth and the country is running a $252.4 billion trade surplus with the U.S. So it seems that driven youth will eventually become highly productive members of society. However, innovation has reached a standstill...a facet of "Western education" that the Chinese now hope to mirror. Not only this, but American secondary education holds its own weight in the world, regardless of the lack of competition leading up to it. Of course there will be some that say Western education offers more leeway to learn while others will speak of the high standards of Eastern teaching, but in reality both have benefits and drawbacks. With this cultural issue, there is the possibility of reaching a compromise, regardless of the polarized views surrounding it.
Well, while we cannot deny the fact that the "Tiger Mom"'s children all went to top universities in the world, we should certainly scrutinize her ways of education critically. Going to top university is not all life is about. Life is about doing what you really enjoy as well as having fun. I doubt the children of Amy Chua would enjoyed life when they were young. They were forced to study as well as play the violin. They might develop interest in violin afterwards, but the first few months, or years of practice were certainly a painful experience for them. In addition, not everyone who get into Harvard or Yale was educated in a way similar to that adopted by Amy Chua. There are thousands of other brilliant young men and women who managed to get into the top universities because of their academic capabilities, and at the same time enjoyed their leisure time. I'm also Chinese but my parents have never adopted such education styles when I was young, nor will I use those methods toward my future children.
ReplyDeleteOMG! I was going to write my blog post on this topic right here. What she fails to understand, AMY CHUA, in countless of interviews is that people (including Asian Americans) aren't upset because they believe it is a tutorial or some sort of backhanded "how-to" guide but because of her insolence to categorize her method as "ASIAN" or "EASTERN" parenting style.
ReplyDeleteThat's the only issue I have with this. She also fails to realize that correlation doesn't equal causation because correlation only equals correlation and causation is an entire different thing. APPLES AND ORANGE, two different things, entirely different.