Andie Chen's kids are in the experimental school system in Taiwan, and they learn about taboo things like swear words
The local actor also explained how his parents influenced his parenting style.
Just picture the fuss when someone accidentally lets slip a swear word in front of a child. Now imagine learning about swear words in school.
But, the unorthodox curriculum is part of an experimental school system in Taiwan which Andie Chen’s kids are going through.
In 2020, Chen moved to Taiwan to further his career. He has two kids - Aden, eight, and Avery, six - with Taiwanese actress Kate Pang.
In an interview with Yahoo Southeast Asia on 26 March for the Channel 8 drama Born to Shine, the 38-year-old local actor explained that the experimental school system focuses on more than just the academic aspect of an education.
“They have on excursion every week to, like, nature, farms, mountains,” he said. “[The kids] can touch grass, touch animals. They have pets in school, they watch animals. It’s like a lot of emphasis on conservation, nature.”
Surprisingly, the students also have a choice to hang in the “cool-off corner, or like a daydream corner” if they’re not interested in the class.
Chen added, “So it's up to the teacher to reflect on why their class is not attractive to children.”
As for the swear words, there is an educational value to it because the students learn to ask questions. He explained that they realised a lot of the expressions were “swearing at mothers” and they wondered why.
“Then the teacher said in the past, there is a caste system and females are considered inferior,” he said.
Through this process, the students eventually had a better understanding of the swear words and chose not to use it.
How his parents influenced his parenting style
Born to Shine centres around three sets of parents and their different parenting styles for their kids who are tackling the Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE).
In reel life, Chen plays the strict dad who creates a rigorous schedule for his son, filling his free time with various forms of learning and training. In real life, Chen is completely different from his character.
He shared, “Academic is overrated lah. To me, as long as you get the fundamentals, then the rest of the time, I rather you use it to explore yourself, explore what interests you, and also, maybe learn how the world works.”
Chen attributed his parenting style to the way he was brought up, but opined that it’s the “same with a lot of people”.
“Your parents, like, cane you, you won’t cane your kids,” he said. Chen recalled that his parents were busy with work, hence, they were “not that present” with what was going on in school. But, he would get caned if he didn’t perform well academically.
Chen even remembers one incident where “my mum gave me hell” because his results were very bad. What he didn’t know at that time, was that he was dyslexic.
He said, “It affected my self-esteem… Because of my parents, and because of the school system, I felt like I'm an idiot. Like I'm a failure. I felt like I was lazy. Like I was a bad student, I was a bad person, bad human being, because my results were bad. It’s like one package and you cannot separate it.”
It was only when he attended film school that he realised “I wasn’t stupid” and that “my way of learning is different”.
“Now, my kids have a lot of freedom to choose what they want. But if they choose it, they have to commit.”
Despite the tough love from his parents, Chen clarified that they’re great and is aware of their love for him.
He said, “They love me, I always knew that. I don't want people to take it the wrong way. I’m close to my parents. But, they’re a product of their time. I understand that, but it took me a long time to understand.”
Born to Shine also stars Zhang Yaodong, Meixin, Darren Lim, Priscelia Chan, and Mindee Ong. It airs every weekday at 9pm, with episodes available to stream on meWATCH.
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