Session 7- Discussion

[Anonymous]

This session's lecture may have been more geared toward history teachers in the room, but it appealed to me as an English teacher who works in isolation because there is little to no cross-curricular lesson planning at my school. In fact, my students will often ask me, as one did earlier this week, "Ms. Parmar, when did this become a history class?" as we delved into the arguments made by Thomas Jefferson in the "Declaration of Independence."

Because I teach texts by George Orwell such as ANIMAL FARM and 1984, it is important for me to better understand the attraction and implementation of communist rule. Today, I learned so much more than I ever knew before about the Mao, China and Chiang Kai Shek. I am particularly interested in learning more about the gulf that exists between Taiwan and mainland China. This session helped me unpack some of the tangles in the web that has woven a blockage between these two nations. It is not like the partition inspired by England's endeavor to divide and conquer by exploiting the rifts that existed beneath the relative harmony on the surface where Hindus and Muslims dwelled peacefully for centuries to finally carve Pakistan out of India.

[Anonymous]

I know someone who recently visited China, who verified that at a university that the group visited, the Communist Party still plays a major role in all areas. He saw first hand that the Communist Party representative held a position above the president and vice president of the university. It is clear that the content of the lecture is not isolated to the past, but still has extreme relevance to the present, and the future. Studying the past people, ideologies, and movements that made China what it is today can affect the way our current students interact in the future as possible businesspeople, educators, politicians, and etc.

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

I found the piece of the lecture about political parties to be a particularly interesting comparison to make with America's systems. One fact that stood out to me from the lecture was that in order to become a member of the Chinese Communist Party, 2 people must guarantee that the potential member will make a good candidate. I was particularly surprised to learn that this isn't an antiquated rule- the system still works this way. It was also surprising to me that the Party will actively recruit potential members. As an American History teacher, I teach my students about political parties. For some of my students, it’s the first time they become exposed to learning about party platforms. I think that comparing the system in the United States to the system in China would help my students understand the rights and privileges that people have as a citizen of the United States that makes the country a "dream" for so many people. Thinking about how I have taught my students about political parties in the past, I think they have understood what parties are, but they haven’t felt empowered by the idea that any person can choose to be a part of any political party. The contrast between America's system and China's system can continue to be drawn as students learn about voting for representatives and president in comparison to the very top-down way that decisions are made within the Party in China.

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