Lenka S. reviewed on 4/18/2022 + 829 more book reviews

The author, Ms. Chu, and her husband, are Americans living and working in Shanghai when their son, Rainey, becomes school-aged. They debate whether to send him to a âWesternâ private school or a Chinese public school. When they manage to get him into one of the most prestigious Chinese public schools they decided to give it a try. At the same time, Ms. Chu decides to take a close look at the Chinese system at every level. It turns out to be an eye-opening experience.

The most compelling parts of this book are Ms. Chu's reactions to what happens with Rainey and what is required of her as the parent of a student at a Chinese school. In his first weeks in kindergarten, Rainey is âtaughtâ to sit in his chair, back straight, feet flat on the floor, hands on his knees. He is force-fed foods he refuses to eat. He memorizes and recites. Initially, she seems repelled by this, but is impressed by how Rainey learns to self-manage his behavior and the fact that his behavior at home doesn't seem significantly impacted by what he is able to accomplish at school for his teachers and principal. In fact, she learns that, if she doesn't like what the school is doing, she is more than welcome to remove Rainey because there is a long list of students more than anxious to take his place. Rainey stays.

In fact, Ms. Chu learns that, in Chinese society, the school staff has far more power and expects much more respect than teachers in the United States have ever been given. As much as Rainey, she receives assignments from her son's teachers that she is expected to complete. She becomes enmeshed in a process of procuring âpresentsâ for the teachers at her son's school from the United States, including (cliché) expensive handbags.

Despite the speed bumps, however, she seems to come to an accommodation with Rainey's school and is happy with his progress. What appears more problematic is the expectations down the line. Ms. Chu becomes friends with a some high school students preparing for college. One is educated exclusives in China while another goes to the U.S. for high school (and other is a provincial with little chance of success). All (including, most obvious, the parents) are worried about the gaokao, the test that students must pass to enter prestigious colleges in China. The one educated exclusively in China takes the Party line as a matter of course. The one with American education chafed against what was required, though perfectly capable of achieving it. The story that stands out is her discussion of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. In China students read a bowdlerized version that has a specific, government-approved interpretation that students are expected to parrot back. The experience at the American high school is, obviously, different.

And here is the crux of the battles between the two styles of education: should students be forced through a discipline-driven, strict curriculum which seems to stifle free-thinking and invention, or should students be allowed a freer experience that encourages innovation and ingenuity at the expense of management and self-control? The answer, not surprisingly, seems to be some balance between the two, though the passionate on both sides of the Pacific are unwilling to come to an accommodation. Maybe if more people lived the differences, like Ms. Chu, something could be achieved. In any case, this book is an excellent read.

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