ABSTRACT
What is largely disregarded in the discourse on the academic success of East Asian students, we believe, is shadow education, commonly known as private supplementary tutoring. Moreover, the cultural values and elements of East Asian countries have not been seriously considered, if not disvalued or ignored. Success has been attributed to East Asian cultural heritage such as Confucianism alongside efforts that are embedded in nurturing “ethnic identities”, family beliefs, culture, and excellence in public schooling. This chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book. The book attempts to demystify the “magic bullet” by providing concrete narratives from these countries as well as interpretations from indigenous perspectives in terms of culture, history, politics, and education systems, which is why we invited chapter contributors from these countries who speak the native languages and who understand the multifaceted specificities of the contexts.
