Are migrant parents pushing their kids too hard at school?

[ninwa]

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/blogs/learning-curve/are-migrant-parents-pushing-their-kids-too-hard-at-school/20100912-156t8.html

...

Advantage and cultural capital is being pooled in selective schools, breeding further advantage. This he says is skewing HSC results by creating extremes of advantage and disadvantage.

‘‘It artificially raises the bar and makes access to high grades much more difficult for students who are not in the elite schools,’’ he says.

‘‘When you split sectors and create a platform which is more elevated, the students are able to build their competitive position more strongly and someone has to pay for that. It is a zero sum game - some win, but others must lose.’’

Have migrant parents pushed the HSC achievement bar too high? Or does everyone else just need to work harder to catch up?

Related: http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/top-schools-secret-weapon-95-of-students-of-migrant-heritage-20100912-156zd.html

[Lol, higher achievements being somehow a bad thing? Only in Australia]

[Duck]

Why is a higher standard of education bad? God forbid we become too smart.

[akira88]

Just lol. Yup, only in Australia

[Mao]

I remember having an argument with my teacher/principal about whether selective schools were a good thing. If I remember it correctly, the result of that discussion was it was part of the student's duty to bring up the marks of his/her peers.

Interesting ways people interpret 'equality'.

[Eriny]

Somewhat related - I read last week in The Australian that if you speak a language other than English at home, you're 25% more likely to go to university. It's interesting because I'd have thought that something like that would actually be disadvantageous given how much universities weigh good English skills, but obviously it isn't necessarily a disadvantage at all.

[EvangelionZeta]

^^I think speaking a non-English language at home doesn't necessarily make you worse at English - empirical evidence, but some of the best English students I know don't speak any of it outside of school.

Perhaps in such households, although the language isn't spoken as much, but the work ethic of the kids more than makes up for it?

[Chavi]

You might like to shift this topic to the English board under context. The themes raised here fit in really nicely with Alice Pung's 'Growing Up Asian In Australia'.

[Cianyx]

Funnily enough, this coincidentally appeared on BoS with a more humorous title

[Hutchoo]

I remember having an argument with my teacher/principal about whether selective schools were a good thing. If I remember it correctly, the result of that discussion was it was part of the student's duty to bring up the marks of his/her peers.

Interesting ways people interpret 'equality'.

Mao, have I told you that I love you? Couldn't agree more mang..

[m@tty]

Funnily enough, this coincidentally appeared on BoS with a more humorous title

Which was?...

[Eriny]

^^I think speaking a non-English language at home doesn't necessarily make you worse at English - empirical evidence, but some of the best English students I know don't speak any of it outside of school.

Oh yes, I agree. I meant that it's obviously not a huge disadvantage in terms of developing English skills.

[crayolé]

Funnily enough, this coincidentally appeared on BoS with a more humorous title

Which was?...

Quote:Superior Asians taking over white Aussie schools unquote

[slothpomba]

My school has a large asian population and i have noticed on average yeah the asian kids do better.

I think its down to work ethic and parents pushing them... my parents dont give a stuff at all... i wouldn't mind parents that pushed me even a little

[Hutchoo]

Lol, European mothers are scary too pal, instead of whacking you with a bamboo stick (stereotypical Azn punish stick); they usually beat the shit out of you with shoes, pots, serving spoons, belts and crazy slaps that burn your skin for 3-4+ hours after.
Thats why I try 'harder' in school.


P.S - Did i forget to mention lectures "Back in Turkey, I had no food.. " etc, it sounds cheesy but it works

[slothpomba]

I dont get that from my euro parents