New Student, Old Student...

The much anticipated release date for the exam results of the NSW Selective Schools Exam is just around the corner. I'm a little bit worried about whether or not 'R' (you know, Prime Minister Morris Iemma's most avid supporter) is going to get a placement.

There's so much pressure in the Chinese-Australian community for children to firstly gain a placement in an Opportunity Class in year 4, and then either an offer at a top-notch selective school (not just any old selective school will do you not-quite-good-enough'ers!) or a scholarship at an elite private school in year 6. Children are losing their chance to really explore things at their own pace and to learn about things that THEY are interested in and are instead thrust into the world of tutors and coaching colleges usually now from around the time they enter years 2 or 3!

Take 'S', the latest student I'm breaking in, for example: his parents are from a non-English speaking background and never speak to him in English. At home, he's surrounded by media in his first language and as a result, he has trouble pronouncing words in English and lacks the confidence to speak comoplete sentences in English, especially to unfamiliar people (like me!).

These sorts of circumstances however, do not deter their parents from believing that he will top his class in English if they shove enough textbooks at him and pay enough tuition and coaching college fees to feed a third-world child for a decade. When I mentioned that it might take a bit of time and hard work to maybe get him up to speed with the other kids in his grade, his parents said "Oh, we don't mind if he's not as good as the English kids...but we would be happy even if he was like you." (...Hopefully that's just a language misunderstanding and not a jab at my Chinese-Australian English!). They then told me how they plan for him to attend an OC in years 5 and 6 and then a selective high school in year 7. The whole time I'm thinking: great plans, but let's focus on getting your son confident enough to handle a 2 mins plus conversation in English first! There's more to their learning than just exams and marks!

It's crazy how determined these parents are to give their kids every possible edge in the exams. Some of them even set up strict boot camp-like study regimes for their kids which include: restricted television time (usually only 30 mins of news), Maths, English (comprehension AND grammar) and General Ability exercises each night, spelling tests, etc... and of course, weekly one hour sessions with me. How are these kids meant to have a life?!? And how are they meant to really learn the stuff being drilled into their heads?!? It's not even meaningful to them!

One of my other students 'Q', is so immersed in this way of studying, that she gets annoyed when I really try to stop and explain something to her or suggest books she can read up on about something we've come across in the work we do. Instead, she expects me to spoon feed her all the answers to her coaching college homework that she can't understand, instead of explaining where she went wrong and how to approach questions similar to the ones she struggles with. This way she can keep on topping her coaching college class with 100% scores each week for her homework which is totally NOT reflecting the reality of her abilities. Her parents seem to be quite happy with this training regime though, despite what I say to them to convince them otherwise. (*Sigh* Nobody listens to me!). She even expects me to write up her fortnightly speeches for her, the nerve of that kid! Garghghgh!

On the plus side, it keeps me in business, but still, I wish these parents would give their children a chance to really stop and smell the roses instead of shoving a book on botany under their noses and ordering them to memorise all the state and territorial flowers of Australia by dinner time.