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    Little Soldiers: An American Boy, a Chinese School, and the Global Race to Achieve
    Little Soldiers: An American Boy, a Chinese School, and the Global Race to Achieve
    Little Soldiers: An American Boy, a Chinese School, and the Global Race to Achieve
    Audiobook11 hours

    Little Soldiers: An American Boy, a Chinese School, and the Global Race to Achieve

    Written by Lenora Chu

    Narrated by Emily Woo Zeller

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    In the spirit of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Bringing up Bébé, and The Smartest Kids in the World, a hard-hitting exploration of China’s widely acclaimed yet insular education system—held up as a model of academic and behavioral excellence—that raises important questions for the future of American parenting and education.

    When students in Shanghai rose to the top of international rankings in 2009, Americans feared that they were being ""out-educated"" by the rising super power. An American journalist of Chinese descent raising a young family in Shanghai, Lenora Chu noticed how well-behaved Chinese children were compared to her boisterous toddler. How did the Chinese create their academic super-achievers? Would their little boy benefit from Chinese school?

    Chu and her husband decided to enroll three-year-old Rainer in China’s state-run public school system. The results were positive—her son quickly settled down, became fluent in Mandarin, and enjoyed his friends—but she also began to notice troubling new behaviors. Wondering what was happening behind closed classroom doors, she embarked on an exploratory journey, interviewing Chinese parents, teachers and education professors, and following students at all stages of their education.

    What she discovered is a military-like education system driven by high-stakes testing, with teachers posting rankings in public, using bribes to reward students who comply, and shaming to isolate those who do not. At the same time, she uncovered a years-long desire by government to alleviate its students’ crushing academic burden and make education friendlier for all. The more she learns, the more she wonders: Are Chinese children—and her son—paying too high a price for their obedience and the promise of future academic prowess? Is there a way to appropriate the excellence of the system but dispense with the bad? What, if anything, could Westerners learn from China’s education journey?

    Chu’s eye-opening investigation challenges our assumptions and asks us to consider the true value and purpose of education.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateSep 19, 2017
    ISBN9780062564887
    Author

    Lenora Chu

    Lenora Chu is a Chinese American writer whose work explores the intersection of culture, policy, and behavior. Her stories and op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Christian Science Monitor, and on various NPR shows. Raised in Texas, Chu holds degrees from Stanford and Columbia Universities.

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    Reviews for Little Soldiers

    4.5/5

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    • 5/5
      As an ESL teacher of Chinese students, I have fallen in love with the people and culture. It was enlightening to learn about the Educational system, to hear about the things that work and the things that don’t. It was eye-opening to learn of the testing process and to hear about the pitfalls and perils of paid points. I took away the comforting knowledge that children are resilient. There is good that can come from the Chinese educational system and there are positives within the American educational system. More importantly, we can and should all learn from each other.
    • 5/5
      Wonderfully insightful book about the Chinese versus American school systems, as well as the all-important cultural context in which they play out. Especially with all the focus on the need to improve American education, a must read...
    • 5/5
      This book balanced the personal narrative and the rigour of reporting perfectly. I learned more than I expected and laughed allot more than i expected too. A must read for anyone traversing the eastern and western cultures.
    • 4/5
      This book came in my monthly subscription box from Coloring and Classics (which I'm not sponsored by but I do highly recommend to all and sundry). I don't know that this is a book I would normally would have picked up simply because it sounds like a fairly dry topic on its surface. However, this book was supremely interesting and kept me engaged from beginning to end. It's essentially a study into the differences between the Chinese and United States educational systems. This is less of a straightforward researcher's look at the issue because Chu and her family actually relocated to China and her oldest son was enrolled in a traditional Chinese grammar school. She discusses the culture and history of China and how that has impacted the way that the educational system has been run in the past (and how it in many ways has not changed). It's fascinating and shines rather a stark light on the U.S. view as well. Even if you have no skin in the game (or a child to send to school) this is an excellent resource and a great way to learn about another culture.
    • 2/5
      Fascinating description of what the differences are between an American kindergarten for 3 yr olds and the same thing in Shanghai.