Understand The Role Of Parents In The Performance Of Asian Students

Amy Chua takes a “Chinese” approach to child rearing. At the epicenter of this parenting model is the drive for success. She states: “What Chinese parents understand is that nothing is fun until you’re good at it” (Chua2011). This attitude is shown in her views of academic success. Chua states: “Chinese parents can order their kids to get straight As. Western parents can only ask their kids to try their best. Chinese parents can say, "You 're lazy. All your classmates are getting ahead of you" (Chua 2011). Hanna Rosin by contrast takes the “Western” approach on her views of academic success. In fact she makes the statement: “What privileged American children need is not more skills and rules and math drills. They need to lighten up and roam free, to express themselves in ways not dictated by their uptight, over-invested parents” (Rosin 2011). Hanna Rosin does not believe that success is not important in children’s lives; however, she does

“In one study of 50 Western American mothers and 48 Chinese immigrant mothers, almost 70% of the Western mothers said either that ‘stressing academic success is not good for children’ or that ‘parents need to foster the idea that learning is fun.’ By contrast, roughly 0% of the Chinese mothers felt the same way. Instead, the vast majority of the Chinese mothers said that they believe their children can be ‘the best’ students, that ‘academic achievement reflects successful parenting,’ and that if children did not excel at school then there was ‘a problem’ and parents ‘were not doing their job.’ … Chinese parents spend approximately ten times as long every day drilling academic activities with their children. By contrast, Western kids are

Ng’s portrayal of Leila as a school teacher and how difficult it was to connect with the Asian children’s parents is a situation relating back to the separation of education and the home in Asia. Another difficult barrier in education was the role of the student. In Asia the student learns what material is given to them and interaction with the teacher is uncommon. The parent – teacher – student interaction was a brand new idea to Asian families. Adapting to this new system could take generations of work by devoted teachers.

However, the incessant hovering and excessive involvement from Asian parents can add tremendous pressure and stress onto young Asians. In the Daily Collegian News, Penn State sophomore Trevor Hsu expresses, “It puts pressure on Asian [students] themselves to fit that stereotype…they can feel that they let themselves [and their families] down because they have not achieved the level of excellence that the stereotype has set.” (qtd. in Dailey). Because they feel guilty and shameful, many Asian students are reluctant to admit to their parents and teachers that they have difficulties with class works and assignments as much as their non-Asian classmates and consequently, they do not received the support they need to improve their performance.

There are many types of parents around us, and every culture shows something different. There are types of parenting styles and some of them are authoritarian, indulgent, and uninvolved. Every culture falls under one of the parenting styles and Chinese are considered authoritarian. Amy Chua, a Yale professor, a famous author, who recently wrote the book, “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother”, in which she discuses parenting and the difference between Chinese and Western parenting. After reading “ Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior”, she argues about different parenting styles and how Chinese parents are superior in terms of focusing on education with their kids.

The Asian group has strong standards regarding academic success. The United States Census Bureau reported that the percentage of Asian Americans to possess a bachelor’s degree or higher increased by 54% which shows a significant increase within the past 20 years (United States Census Bureau, 2016). Throughout much of Asia, children are taught at an early age to believe that education is the only path to success. While they are a distinct minority, their indicators of success in terms of education and future income occur because of the unique style of parenting which is based on the belief of the philosopher Confucius. Within their culture, they are taught to work on self-perfection which will help them achieve self-improvement in qualities such as diligence, determination, and concentration (Seal, 2010). Parents, family members, and their community assume the responsibility for teaching and disciplining children. Furthermore, they instill the belief that a child’s achievement or lack thereof is a direct reflection on the efforts of the entire family and community (Chen & Uttal, 1988). These types of demands coupled with academic

Asian immigrants raised their children on the values of filial piety. Filial piety is based on Confucianism ideology which is one showing respect to one’s parent. American-born children are raised with two values which are Confucianism and the American values. The American values allow an individual to make their decisions either in their career, marriage, or lifestyle. Unlike, the American values, Confucianism decisions are decided by the parents, which have created tension in both generations. The immigrant parents stress the importance of a proper education to their children because the parents did not have the opportunity for education. Education was a privilege meaning only the families that had money could send their children to school. The parents began working at a young age to support their family and maintaining the household was more important than education. The immigrant parents are motivated by the “American Dream” instead of a financial benefit, the better the education and the employment, the more opportunities that would be offered. A person without a proper education would not succeed in life compared to the ones that have an education.

In the forum post, Megan Tran recalled a time she spoke back to her mother. While her mother saw it as an act of disrespect, Megan believed she was simply verbalizing her opinion. As the child becomes more adept at English, the parent begins to depend on their child to help them connect with the English-speaking world. In the forum post, David Yuen mentioned how his parents “always asked [him and his brothers] to translate letters, help them fill out paper work, help them make phone calls, and even explain the directions to use a product they purchased.” The parents' dependence on the child leads to a role reversal, and the parents' authority diminishes. Despite all this, however, research of Southeast Asian youth has shown that there is a correlation between academic achievement and a family environment with a number of traditional Southeast Asian values (Detzner & Eliason, Resilience: Survival in the Face of Difficulties). The importance of the family endures in Southeast Asian cultures, and that contributes to the success of Southeast Asian

The second article I read was, The new whiz kids by Brand, D. According to the article, Asian Americans have set a standard for Americans on education. A researcher at the U.S. Department of Education found that Asian Americans spend more time on their homework, take more advanced classes, and graduate with more credits than other students. They are known to be high achievers. The stereotype of Asian Americans as the model minority group is not true. It is simply because they work harder. Because of their cultural background and how they were raised, they are really focused on their education. They view education as the key to success. “It’s a matter of dedication, family support and discipline,” says Julliard President Joseph Polisi. He believes that Asians are not naturally talented but because of their hard work, they are able to be successful in what they are doing. Asian American children are greatly influenced by their parents to study hard and get a good degree because the advantage the American educational system has in store for them. Asian American parents expect a lot of educational success from their children because of the sacrifice they have to make for their children to be successful in the future. Because of what they have been taught, asking for help is not easy. They have been taught to not show any emotions and be

“Keep your grades up, son.” “Ask lots of questions.” “Get lots of scholarships.” These were the kind of things that I would often hear as a child. My parents were always mindful of my brother’s and my grades, making sure we were working to bring up those pesky A minuses and B’s. It seemed to fit the “strict Asian parents” stereotype. However, I surely don’t have a problem with the way my parents raised me; they aren’t as bad as the “Asian Tiger Mom” stories I occasionally hear. All they want is for me and my brother to have a proper education, something that they couldn’t receive.

They are more involved with their studies, and take them more seriously. This is because the parents of the Asian children take the child’s education the a higher degree, and do not except lower than when they believe their child can achieve; mover, the parents of Asian-Americans expect more from their young. This is mentioned by Hsin and Xie in their paper ‘Explaining Asian Americans’ Academic Advantage Over Whites’, “It is widely documented that Asian-American parents hold higher educational expectations for their children than white native-born parents. Also in contrast to white American parenting, some scholars argue that Asian-American parenting fosters greater interdependence and collectivism within the family, which helps Asian-American parents to more easily inculcate values such as high educational expectations and strong work ethic in their children” (Hsin & Xie,

Parents play a pivotal role in the academic success of students. Therefore, it is important for educators to provide frequent opportunities for collaboration with families so they can support student learning at home. Additionally, regular communication with parents helps them understand the educational programs in school so they can monitor student progress and advocate for their child’s needs.

“I expect nothing but the best. If it is not an A, you are not striving to the best of your ability. You cannot be a musician; you have to be a doctor. You can only be someone when you ARE someone. That will only happen after you take ten extra lessons outside of school, and you also have to learn how to play all types of instruments. My main point is, you have to be the best.” For many centuries, cultures from all around have had many debates on the correct way of parenting. In recent times, a specific type of parenting has been in the spotlight: the parenting of Asian mothers. They are known as very passive and submissive to strangers, but to their own kids they turn around 360 and becoming very aggressive and demanding. Many Westerners think Easterners way of parenting is cruel and inhumane. Westerners think that Asian mothers have goals that are unrealistic; they are selfish because they are simply living their dream through their children. Asian mothers, on the other hand, claim they do it all out of love.

Parental involvement in children’s lives comes in a variety of ways, and the idea of how involved parents should be may vary with different families. Jeynes, in Parental Involvement and Academic Success, states that for their studies “parental involvement” was characterized by “parental participation in the educational processes and experiences of their children.” There are many ways parents can be involved in their child’s academics, several are mentioned in the same work, by Jeynes. Parents may communicate with their children about daily school occurrences, help with and check their child’s homework, let the child know their expectations for his or her academics, and attend relative school functions (42). Another way parents may get involved in their child’s academics, mentioned by Schor, in Caring for Your School-Age Child, is to meet and

Joseph Sclafani writes, “The influence of teachers is actually reciprocal and to some extent dependent on what your child brings to the classroom…These same teachers also form impressions based upon other information such as your child’s previous year’s grades and test scores, and his or her family background and the family’s level of involvement” (Sclafani 84). I interpret what the author says, as parents, have a huge influence on the learning environment their children will have since everything starts at home. Parents are supposed to teach children certain values and beliefs and the importance of education can vary from family to family depending on education level and personal income. As a result outside of these factors, they can steer someone down a specific path which can be good but also be dangerous. Based on the study by Eun-Young Kim on Korean-American children often are forced to follow in the footsteps of their parents that they often develop higher levels of stress and discontent. “The college students make important career decisions, explicitly and implicitly that mirrored the model of success that their parents also have. When children are not meeting parent expectations, they tend to feel guilty, discouraged and frustrated. Family and their communities pushed for these Korean students to develop an approach that will smoothly allow them to attain and obtain a specific career’’ (Kim, E.Y., 1993).