many sheets he has been coloring. The medical team rushes to arrange the
sheets and discovers the picture the boy has been attempting to draw – a
giant whale. The video clip ends with the caption: ‘How can you encourage
a child? Use your imagination’. It is disappointing that the adults involved
in the story made the judgment that the boy’s ‘different’/‘atypical’ behaviour
was ‘abnormal’, and assumed that his behaviour was caused by some kind
of ‘disorder’. With reference to the six ‘inadequate’ notions of culture stated
earlier, the adults – regardless of their differing roles, responsibilities and
backgrounds – seem to think that school culture is homogenous; a thing that is
devoid of individual agency. They expect every person in the school and society
to possess behavioural uniformity, a single identity within the group culture;
behaviours that conform to traditions/customary ways; and they believe in the
timeless quality of their group traditions.
The above story illustrates a cultural mismatch between the adults’ expectations
within a ‘conformist’ culture and the more learner-centred and democratic
culture of modern education. Many East and South-East Asia countries
continue to be influenced by Confucian thinking in their culture, ethics,
politics, religion and philosophy (see Tucker 2013; Leong 2011; Ee and Tan
2008; Kim 2009). These societies are characterized by the strong emphasis
they place on education, underlaid by three Confucian principles: ‘education
is serious; progress is achieved through hard work; everyone can succeed if
they work hard enough’ (Starr 2012: 18). Students living in the Asia-Pacific
region are more likely to feel intense pressure before sitting for high-stakes
examinations which determine their success in securing a place in the best
schools and universities, and parents go to great lengths to ensure their children
have every possible advantage in attaining success in examinations
(Kono and Manowalailao 2010). The phenomenon of excessively protective
parents who meddle in every aspect of their children’s lives, and constantly
complain to and about their teachers has been termed ‘monster parents’ –
first coined in Japan and dramatized in a 2008 TV series of the same name,4
predating the ‘(Asian) Tiger mum’ description. The controversial story of the
Chinese-American ‘Tiger mum’ from Yale University illustrates the clash
between family culture, school culture and social culture. In her blockbuster
book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (Chua 2011),5 Amy Chua lists ten things
her two daughters were never allowed to do: attend a sleepover; have a play
date; be in a school play; complain about not being in a school play; watch TV
or play computer games; choose their own extracurricular activities; get any
grade less than an A; not be the No. 1 student in every subject except gym
and drama; play any instrument other than the piano or violin; and not play
the piano or violin. Although the book suggests that a tough and demanding
‘Tiger mum’ parenting style is a winning way to raise highly successful
children, things were rough with the second daughter from day one while
things went smoothly with her elder daughter.6 Another Chinese-American
disagrees with the Tiger mum approach: high expectations that could never
be satisfied despite the highest grades, perfect test scores, and the best efforts
to please her. She highlights her suffering from her ‘tiger’ mother’s lack of
affectionate hugs, outward demonstrations of love, and words of praise, and
advocates that parents should make time to really see their children, ease
up on their schedules and love them unconditionally (Keltner 2013). Recent
research by Kim et al. (2013) of 400 Asian-American families for eight years
examines parents on four positive and four negative aspects and tracked
how these profiles affect the development of children. Children of parents