The Australian Bite

Calling for an “all-round education”

13 January 2011

Listen and download: MP3

This week on the Bite, we hear from Anna Liu, a Chinese family support worker in southern Sydney who is trying to convince her community that they need not put so much pressure on their children to succeed academically.

The benefits of “an all round education”

Anna Liu came to Australia from mainland China with her family in 2005, and was concerned by the single-mindedness of other Chinese community members when it comes to schooling. She was determined that her own children would have a broad-based education – including not only academic work, but also sport, music and other recreational activities. She decided to spread the word about benefits of this approach, and she now runs a parenting program in schools in the St George area of southern Sydney that she’s adapted and rewritten in Mandarin. Anna’s official role is as a Chinese family support worker at the St George family support service, and she joined Richard Aedy to share her thoughts on what she calls “an all round education.”

This interview originally broadcast on ABC Radio National’s Life Matters program

Music: (not in podcast)

We hear a track from Melbourne songstress Amaya Laucirica’s debut solo album Early Summer.

Artist: Amaya Laucirica

Track: Climb Up High

Album: Early Summer (2010)

. . . and also a track from Bondi-based drummer, guitarist, singer and songwriter Declan Kelly.

 Artist: Declan Kelly

Track: Rise to the Festival

Album: Adrift (2010)

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