Yesterday on American Public Media’s Marketplace program, Kai Ryssdal asked former D.C. schools Chancellor, Michelle Rhee, what she thought about the controversy over the new book by Amy Chua, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.
Kai Ryssdal: I don’t know if you’ve been following the discussion that’s been out there the past week or so, about a book written by a Chinese-American woman named Amy Chua. It’s about the differences — the very big differences — between western and Asian styles of parenting. Suffice it to say that Amy Chua is a strict mom: A’s are the only grade that’s acceptable, three hours of piano practice every day is barely enough — that kind of thing.
Anyway, I’ve been wracking my brain trying to find a Marketplace angle to the thing. Commentator and educator Michelle Rhee says it’s all Marketplace.
I’ve been observing the controversy over Chua’s book with some amusement because my own mother required me to practice the violin for 2 and a half hours every day, told me that As are the only acceptable grade, and that I could not participate in school sports because I had no talent and it would put my violin playing “at risk.” So, apparently this is not a style of parenting that is left solely to the Chinese. Maybe it’s
