Events & Calendars Hyper Education: When Good Grades, Good Schools and Good Behavior are Not Enough

The Faculty Colloquium Series for 2019-20 presents a lecture titled “Hyper Education: When Good Grades, Good Schools, and Good Behavior are Not Enough” presented by Pawan Dhingra, professor of American studies.
“A recent truth in middle-class parenting is the over-scheduling of young children in extracurricular activities. Hyper-education refers to a growing trend of young children already performing well in school and yet participating in privatized, extracurricular education. After-school math learning centers and academic competitions (e.g. spelling bees) are two main types. This trend is normally associated with Asian Americans (e.g. “Tiger moms”) but is growing among whites as well. Based on ethnographic research on Asian Americans and others, I explain the motivations of this seemingly foreign practice and demonstrate that it is in line with contemporary education reforms, and as such should be expected to grow. The rise of hyper education has implications for educational inequality."
Faculty Colloquium events are sponsored by a group of faculty colleagues who meet informally with the purpose of supporting and promoting the College’s commitment to faculty research. Colleagues interested in joining this endeavor are welcome and should contact us by email: adsarat@amherst.edu or visit https://www.amherst.edu/mm/33214. Faculty, staff, and members of the administration are cordially invited to attend these presentations.