I read this book to better understand the lives of the Chinese students I teach. I only see them in their homes at night, but there is a whole world of experiences they have not during our 25 minute classes.
My first thought was, "Wow, I do not know if I could have sent my child to a Chinese school." I am a big proponent of people having the choice to raise their children how they see fit, though, and I was intrigued.
The author does have Chinese roots. Her parents were raised there, and her husband spent his time in the Peace Corps there. So first off, it would be different for her to send her son to a Chinese school than my non-Mandarin-speaking self.
And her son, although half white, could blend a lot better than other immigrants could.
I braced myself for what I thought could be really shocking and keep me up at night. I made sure I only read it during the daylight when I had plenty of time before I went to bed in case it gave me nightmares, but it was not nearly as bad as I imagined.
The worst atrocity against the boy was being force fed eggs. Okay, some parents in America do that, too.
It opened my eyes up to a school system quite different from my own experience in American public schools.
Instead of individuality and innovation, conformity and blending in are valued in this system.
If you think our testing is intense, read this book and see how competition and testing rule these children's lives in China.
I had read about Tiger Moms in Asia, but if you put it in context of the sheer magnitude of the mountain these students have to climb to get into good schools and universities to acquire good jobs, it makes more sense. Plus, if you only have one child, which this has changed in time some, you have more time/attention/money to invest in that one child. Of course you would want your one child to be the best. Then, if you and your spouse are both only children with a filial piety society, you might have both set of grandparents in the house with you - so SIX adults are investing in this child to make it great. I have to admit the whole grandparents being right there thing is something I do admire because I grew up next door to my grandmother with my other grandparents just a few streets away. It is nice to have that intergenerational relationship.
There is bribery and corruption, which I was not expecting, because I try not to assume ill intent with others.
The government is working hard to reform education and make it more Western in some ways. Changes can be slow, but the author did find that some of the aspects of this education system were beneficial. And it makes sense with the sheer magnitude of students in some classes for things to be different in China.
The author interviews educators and teenagers going through the big testing phase in their lives. I personally liked the part that talked more about her son in preschool/early elementary years than when she went off on her field trips. I think those parts could have used more character development to draw the reader in because they were just brief snippets.
The reader does get a real sense of the struggle and race to achieve when the stakes are high. It did make me grateful that my own personal race to achieve was more internal than external.
Do you ever think about who you would be in another time/culture? I could not vividly see myself immersed in this system because it seemed so foreign to me. I reflected on the American educational system, and nothing is perfect. But as always, I believe that everything that is wrong with America can be fixed by what is right with America.
I now more fully understand the educational system in China, and the teacher/student relationship. I appreciate learning more about my Chinese students' lives.
Let me know if you read it.
No comments:
Post a Comment