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Anonymous.
Rob_Hugo@PortNWNCTA Study Tour “Growing Up” Group
Here are our notes from this weekend.
~Portia
Essential Questions:
What is it like to grow up…..
in a particular family unit/area /socio economic group?
In China vs. Japan; China/Japan vs. U.S. (particularly L.A.), rural vs. urban family?
Going to school/cram school/prep. For college/ with various family types.
In a certain era/period?
With different responsibilities – family jobs vs. only school?
As a particular gender
Win a particular community, with particular expectations?
As a student in China/Japan vs. student in L.A.
o Possibly purchase textbooks
How are youth forces for political change?
How does the environment and cultural beliefs in which you grow up effect your beliefs/attitudes?
What was it like to grow up in the (time period) vs. now? In Japan/China/U.S., etc.?
Does Pop Culture effect the youth or do the youth effect the pop culture?
When do you become an adult?
Impact of birth control, abundance in China and lack of in Japan.
Evidence to look for:
Youth Culture in Media ---T.V., Magazines, Books, games, entertainment, music
Youth Behavior – dating, family roles, school, drug culture, etc.
Asian youth’s perception of U.S.
Japanese teen prostitution (Yellow Cabs)
Resources:
Japanese Memoirs/Diaries – Ideals of the Samurai (translations of Samurai house codes)
Novel -- Kokoro – (1910)
Chinese – Dream of the Red Chamber – 1700’s Tsao
AnonymousPortia - Thanks for getting this up so quickly!
I've been thinking a lot about my project since our weekend together. I have particularly been considering ways in which I can involve my current set of students. I like the idea Courtney had about "A day in the life of a _________ student." And I was thinking I could have my students create little chap books about themselves - things I could give as gifts, but also use as a way of communicating with the students we meet what life is like for kids in the U.S.
I also am interested in doing some formal and informal interviews with students and older generations of individuals in both China and Japan regarding the ways in which they record(ed) their lives. I believe a shift in medium has occured, but perhaps not a shift in the meaning and purpose behind recording one's daily life either formaly or informaly. With the current trend of web blogs, Live Journals, and My Spaces, the ways in which kids communicate their lives to others is changing. But, is the central reason behind it the same? Do students in the US communicate their "growing up" in ways similar to students in China and Japan? How do these countries compare when we look at previous generations? And can these communications be a way to explore not only a culture of growing up, but a country's culture?
Anyway. these are some questions and ideas that are milling around in my head. This is by no means any sort of formal curriculum proposal, but merely the beginning stages. Please share any feedback or ideas you might have!
AnonymousPerhaps this has nothing to do with your group, but I heard a report on NPR that relates a bit to your topic. Apparently more students in the U.S are interested in learning Mandarin so there is a shortage of teachers in the U.S. to teach the subject. Importing teachers from China over the long term is difficult because of strict credentialing standards and long-term visas.
About 24,000 U.S. students are taking Mandarin, while 200 million Chinese children learn English. It would be interesting to find out how early this starts in China. I thought it was interesting to see how the growth of China is affecting growing up in the U.S.
AnonymousI wish you would ellaborate a bit on your last question. I want to make sure I follow you.
In making our chap books this week a student asked me if it was ok that they wrote in English; he was concerned that the kids might not be able to read it. He was shocked to learn that kids study English at a very young age in school there. I would like to find an article that is reader friendly so that this group of kids could read and discuss the differences in educational practices of students in the US vs China or Japan. They are very intrigued by this - more so than I thought they would be.
Any ideas?
AnonymousI'm really getting excited about the potential of this curriculum project. I can envision my students giving presentations on their field research about how cultures document and celebrate growing up. They will conduct interviews, read memoirs, take notice of their interactions with their friends and draw conclusions. They will do a cross-cultural analysis comparing their experiences to that of students of other cultures.
I'm tired from a long day of work and posting so I will cut this short and leave it a bit less formal than I would prefer, but more is on the way!
AnonymousSince I began working here in Los Angeles I have been facinated by the concept of the quinceanera - the traditional celebration of a girl's 15th birthday. Now that I have the pleasure of being a padreno (which I can't spell) but it means god parent or someone who sponsors a portion of a quinceanera celebration, I am even more facinated.
The tradition of celebrating benchmarks of "growing up" spans all cultures and religions. There are sweet 16's, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, etc. These traditions all mark a cultural emphasis on a phase of development, of an entrance into another world of (young adulthood, etc.). Is there an equivalent in Asian cultures? If so, how is it celebrated? Is it the dramatic (expensive) event custom in America? Is it documented and recorded and set in stone?
Some questions to ponder and consider. And how is this different for men/women, children/adults?
AnonymousIn terms of the curriculum I plan to teach next year, I can forsee a lot of connections to be made with minimal effort.
I will teach:
Of Mice and Men
The Perks of Being A Wallflower
Farewell to Manzanar
Hiroshima
The Odyssey
Romeo and Juliet
Various Short Stories
Poetry
I am teaching Perks of Being A Wallflower as part of a Study Group through the UCLA Writing Project that focuses on GLBT Literature and Curriculum. Some of the key themes/topics/over arching questions are: what is a true friend? What does it mean to grow up a "wallflower"? What is it like to grow up gay? A nerd? Etc. I can see a great deal of connections/opportunities to be made/had here.
With Manzanar and Hiroshima the possibilities are endless, no? What was it like to be a young person growing up in ______________ during WWII, the Japanese Internment, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? My kids are really excited to see photos, etc. from the peace memorial there. I hope I can get some lit and talk to people.
I want to add some Japanese/Chinese literature so I look forward to your suggestions. Right now I am compiling mythology. etc. from China to pair with The Odyssey. I can see all of my units being linked to "Growing Up" and even, what it's like to grow up/be educated in a certain area during a certain time period, etc. What would you encounter? Learn? What would be considered important? Hip? Etc.
Lots of ideas. It'll really start to jell when I get some concrete interviews/artifacts from our trip.
I'm so excited!!!!!!!! Yippee!!!!!!!!! And my department already has me on the schedule for the fall to do a presentation of my trip/work/etc. Yay! Even my principal is excited!
AnonymousFollowing are my curriculum plans. (I went over 250 words, and I still don't have the standards written in this.) I'm interested in feedback, but with such late notice, I'll assume any feedback will begin in person tomorrow.
Courtney
Curriculum Plans - Courtney Lockwood
June 2006
Grade 12 - Modern Literature
My students will be reading literature from throughout the world and writing poems, memoirs, etc., about their own lives. It is important for them to understand the cultural context of stories, so students will be preparing presentations about regions we will be studying through literature.
In order to prepare students for this activity, I will prepare a model from my experiences in China and Japan. What I will be looking for during my trip to East Asia are visual examples of cultural, historical, economic, environmental, and societal influences on a young person’s life. If my students can understand the totality of external factors that influence their lives, as well as those of young people in other nations and characters in novels, they will have a greater understanding of why people act and think the way they do. This, perhaps, will translate into increased empathy for others and a better understanding of literature.
The Project
Develop a PowerPoint presentation (or poster) on the daily influences in a young person’s life within the chosen culture. Look at factors such as the following:
• School (pressures, hours, tests, uniform, style of teaching)
• Culture (dress, music, religion, influence of religion, free-time activities, holidays, history of region/peoples, etc.)
• Family (responsibilities of family members, how children treat parents, size of home, individual privacy within home, family expectations about careers; average number of children in a family)
• Teen life (parental expectations of teens, amount of freedom allowed, free-time activities, dress/make-up/hairstyles – norm vs extreme, safety of community, impact of drugs/smoking/alcohol)
I will begin with a presentation on China or Japan, showing photographs & realia and providing statistics about life in that country. Then, we will read 20th century literature about that country. Students will be asked to write (journals/reading logs) about how the national and cultural influences on characters affect the writing style, the actions of the characters, the author’s theme, etc. As we read, students can compare how they would react under those situations to how the character acted. Students can also write a story that could have taken place in that environment. We will look for universal ideas – what kinds of problems and solutions are similar the world over?
As we are reading about East Asia, students will be preparing similar PowerPoint presentations on a different region in the world. When we finish East Asia, they will present their culture and we will read literature from that part of the world. Again, they will compare the world described in the literature to life in Southern California and to life as we have seen it in East Asia.
As a final project, I will ask students to make a PowerPoint presentation about their own lives. And, I would like students to develop a story about a character from their culture, using the kinds of storylines and techniques we have read from other cultures.
AnonymousI've been working on my lesson plans. I actually had the opportunity to teach most of this mini-unit (I haven't written out the whole Unit but it is conceptualized and will be taught!) during summer school. I shared my photos, artifacts, etc. and the kids ate it up!
I'm still adding standards, rationale, lesson extensions, the last half!, and scanned copies of texts, etc. This is a long process but it will be finished soon!
I'd love feedback, ideas, etc.!
Kyle