Anti-Academic Elitism

Although I haven't quite embarked on the adventure of parenthood, after five years of being a professional academic, I had a revelation recently that the adage "It takes one to know one" can have the reverse meaning of what most people assume. More specifically, I am grateful that my years in the education field have tempered what unhealthy obsession I may have had with academic elitism.

Why would "doing the best for my children" (as "tiger mothers" and other such types justify their sometimes-cruel and irrational priority on "academic excellence"--read: perfection) be a problem?

1) I am of East Asian heritage (it's nurture, not nature, so please don't believe that I am trying to be racist)
2) I earned all of my university degrees at an elite institution
3) I am supposed to advise and foster new intellectuals

But really, when all is said and done, I oppose the unrelenting pressure that my students here in HK face, what their peers in Singapore and South Korea (among other places) must contend with, and the international trend towards what I deem to be hyper-drive education.  Not only must everything be done faster (Advanced Placement examinations in the US being taken in middle or early high school rather than the junior and senior years, as one example) but must also be done in a highly structured and self-centered manner (curriculum vitae for kindergarteners here, if one wishes to enter an elite primary school). I imagine that education, which is already sapped of intellectual "nutritional value" in many countries, is becoming less and less appealing for learners (so no wonder that youth prefer to indulge in social media during class-time and tune out lectures/discussions/activities). I am also concerned that parents have reached a new apex of conditional love -- "I only love you if you're number one in your class" (something Asian-American students hear all the time -- which is frightening when you think about how acceptable it is to think and express verbally)

So, while I am not insisting that all Asians/Asian-Americans/graduates of elite schools are the same (far from it, I do not like absolute statements or archetypes), I *personally* feel very strongly about steering my children towards a more balanced existence that is also more realistic -- "develop your strengths, learn to ameliorate or live with your weaknesses" rather than expecting them to be super-people. I am especially against the "tiger mother mantra" that seems to guarantee success, because from personal experience, I know it does. Being disciplined harshly delivers results but also leaves physical and mental pain that is both chronic and life-disturbing. Perhaps some parents do not care that their children will be left to deal with those scars because the achievements will be obvious (public) and the trauma is private. However, being "mother" to many students whose lives have been marred by the sole concentration on academic elitism, counseling several who would be much happier *not* attending university, and being a survivor of a parental regime that staked everything on being academically outstanding, all the time, no exceptions, I want my daughter to know that academic achievement is a modest fraction of a much larger pie. She should not look down on those who are less successful by academic metrics nor should she worship or be jealous of those who are far more able.


 

Disquieting Days of Summer

Most if not all professional academics relish each and every day of summer. Like plants, we grow to our fullest potential during this time, going into hyper-drive while many other people are taking it slower. Freed from the administrative routines of the academic year, we can go do research and attend conferences all around the world, write and edit at all hours, and re-direct our teaching hours to searching our souls about the meaning of our scholarly toil. Academics become voluntary workaholics for three blissful months -- those 18-hour days don't seem long as they say time flies when one is having fun.

This summer has been different for me, for obvious reasons. I had to give one conference paper over Skype, and will be giving another by proxy. Instead of visiting research sites and digging up new materials, I had to make do with one boat trip to neighboring Macau and am sitting at home with a pile of things I copied over the past year. Rather than starting each day super-early and ending super-late, I have to figure out what I am physically capable of doing on each given day, which has usually meant starting early but also curtailing academic work by dinner time.

As mentioned in a previous post, I have been fortunate enough to be granted an extra summer by my department in the form of a teaching sabbatical this fall, so with daughter by my side, I hope to make up for my currently diminished capacity by milking every minute from September to December. For now, I am learning how to be more patient about taking things slowly and awaiting a challenge that I haven't studied enough for.