Overachieving Chinese students have been a hot topic lately in the Western press and now comes this Op/Ed piece ("Why Chinese Mothers are Superior") in today’s Wall Street Journal from Chinese American Yale law professor Amy Chua.
Some of the ideas expressed within are incendiary, to say the least, and the author sums it all up by stating:
"Western parents try to respect their children’s individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions, supporting their choices, and providing positive reinforcement and a nurturing environment. By contrast, the Chinese believe that the best way to protect their children is by preparing them for the future, letting them see what they’re capable of, and arming them with skills, work habits and inner confidence that no one can ever take away."
Over 1,800 comments (and counting) have been left by readers on the WSJ and BeijingKids readers are sounding off here. You can buy Chua’s new book, The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, on Amazon here.
Meanwhile, over at the New York Times, resident China pundit Nicholas Kristof writes about Beijing resident Hou Yifan ("China Rises, and Checkmates"), the new women’s world chess champion who many claim is on par with the world’s top male players and whom Kristof cites as yet another example of China’s rising power – a consistent theme in many of his articles (and not unlike those nagging Chinese mothers who ceaselessly compare their kids achievements with those of other families). Check out the reader comments here.
But beyond all this news about Chinese students and educational philosophy, another question comes to mind: just how far will some Americans go in setting up their straw men?
