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

Lenora Chu

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0349411778 ISBN 13: 9780349411774

Publisher: Piatkus, 2017

Synopsis

'I couldn't put this book down. Whip smart, hilariously funny and shocking. A must-read' Amy Chua, Yale Law Professor and author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother In 2009, Lenora Chu, her husband Rob, and toddler Rainey, moved from LA to the Chinese megacity Shanghai. The US economy was spinning circles, while China seemed to be eating the planet's economic lunch. What's more, Shanghai teenagers were top in the world at maths, reading and science. China was not only muscling the rest of the world onto the sidelines, but it was also out-educating the West. So when Rainey was given the opportunity to enroll in Shanghai's most elite public kindergarten, Lenora and Rob grabbed it. Noticing her rambunctious son's rapid transformation - increasingly disciplined and obedient but more anxious and fearful - Lenora begins to question the system. What the teachers were accomplishing was indisputable, but what to make of their methods? Are Chinese children paying a price for their obedience and the promise of future academic prowess? How much discipline is too much? And is the Chinese education system really what the West should measure itself against? While Rainey was at school, Lenora embarked on a reporting mission to answer these questions in a larger context. Through a combination of the personal narratives and thoughts of teachers, parents, administrators and school children, Little Soldiers unpacks the story of education in China.

About this title

From the Back Cover

When American journalist Lenora Chu moved to Shanghai with her little boy, Rainey, just down the street from the state-run school—the best, as far as elite Chinese were concerned—she faced an important decision: Should she entrust her rambunctious young son to the Chinese public schools?

It seemed like a good idea at the time, and so began Rainey’s immersion in one of the most radical school systems on the planet. Almost immediately, the three-year-old began to develop surprising powers of concentration and became proficient in early math. Yet Chu also noticed disturbing new behaviors: Whereas he used to scribble and explore, Rainey was now obsessed with staying inside the lines. He became fearful of authority figures. “If you want me to do it, I’ll do it,” he told a stranger who had asked whether he liked to sing.

Driven by parental concern, Chu embarked on an investigative mission: What price do the Chinese pay to produce their “smart” kids, and what lessons might Western parents and educators learn from this system? 

In her search for answers, Chu followed Chinese students, teachers, and experts, pulling back the curtain on a military-style education system in which even the youngest kids submit to high-stakes tests and parents are crippled by the pressure to compete. Yet as Chu delved deeper, she discovered surprising upsides, such as the benefits of memorization, competition as a motivator, and the Chinese cultural belief in hard work over innate talent.

Lively and intimate, beautifully written and reported, Little Soldiers asks us to reconsider the true value and purpose of education, as China and the West compete for the political and economic dominance of a new generation.

About the Author

Lenora Chu is an American writer and journalist with degrees from Stanford and Columbia. A former contributing writer for CNNMoney.com and a broadcast correspondent with Thomson Reuters, she began her journalism career as a political reporter in the United States. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Science, the Christian Science Monitor, and on various NPR shows, including Marketplace and PRI’s The World.

Edition details

• Publisher: Piatkus
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0349411778
• ISBN 13: 9780349411774
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 368