There’s an interesting article written by James Matthews of the Washington Post over at MercuryNews.com. More accurately, it is somewhat a review of a book written by

“two Korean-American sisters — Soo Kim Abboud, a physician, and Jane Kim, a lawyer — titled ‘Top of the Class: How Asian Parents Raise High Achievers — and How You Can Too.’”

I mostly agree with his analysis. Let’s see.

“I think school and family are very important. I want my children to do their homework. I think it is good to think early about what you want to do with your life. Competition, I think, is healthy. Intellectual excellence can bring lifelong satisfaction and also open opportunities for a good income.”

Indeed. Asian families have always had the same mentality as described by Mr. matthews. Why? Consider the roots of the Chinese civilization. Like the Greeks, knowledge was deemed as the ultimate achievement. The ancient Chinese memorized book after book in order to pass national tests that were necessary tto become government officials. The Greeks were the first to invent mnemonic systems to memorize and amaze their peers.

If this is such a good thing for our schools, as I think it is, then how do I explain a story on the front page of the Nov. 19-20 Wall Street Journal, “The New White Flight”? The article by Suein Hwang says white parents in Silicon Valley say they are pulling their children out of some of the local public high schools because they have too many Asian students and “are too academically driven and too narrowly invested in subjects such as math and science at the expense of liberal arts and extracurriculars like sports and other personal interests.”

Well, for South-East Asian countries, based on experience alone, I can tell you tthat Asian governments are the ones that are “too academically driven and too narrowly invested in subjects like math and science…” Consider Singapore’s and Malaysia’s curriculum. The utilisation of the Cambridge ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level system in Singapore or its equivalent in Malaysia is probably the source of this, given that it has always been highly academically-oriented if compared to something like the IB. This governmental level of focus on academics is bound to have a trickle-down effect. That’s not to say that Asian parents are not equally focused on academics. It is well known that Japanese and Singaporean parents fight to get their children into the best schools.

So, based on the Asians in Asia, I can say that there is truth in the perspective of white parents. But at the same time:

I am sure many Asian-American parents are amused by the notion, implicit in the white families’ complaints, that they can just transfer their children to a high school that does not have many Asian-American students and all those academic pressures will ease.

It is best for white parents to acknowledge and to an extent, imitate the curricular-focus of Asian parents and their children. It is all for the best given the myriad reports of declining academic standards in US schools, even if US universities are still acknowleged as among the top in the world, if not the best. After all, if the US is to advance to the next stage of economic development, i.e. creative “production”, a strong academic background would be a necessity. Of course, that’s where the conflict comes in: Asian rote learning is believed to lower out-of-the-box thinking. So, what is the optimal level of academic focus?