why teach about East Asia?
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October 14, 2010 at 5:01 am #26041
Anonymous
GuestAs I said earlier, I was brought up and educated in China. Since I immigrated to America in 2004, I have been teaching in International Studies LC in South Gate as an ESL and Mandarin teacher. Predominately, my students Latinos and also from low-income families. I was shocked when I started teaching Mandarin at Junior High. They had no clues about Asia. They assume that all Asians are Japanese. The only thing they knew about China were Orange Chicken and Chaomian(noodles).So as educators, I think it is very important to open our students' eyes to what lies beyond their small bubbles. and to parepare them as global citizens. I am sure when they are exposed to other cultures, they are surprised at how similar other cultures are to theirs.I am looking forward to incorporating the resouces I will learn from this seminar into my teaching.
October 14, 2010 at 8:08 am #26042Anonymous
GuestThere are so many benefits teaching our students new ideas about cultures they know so little about. Students who are exposed to new and different areas of humanity will obtain an expanded tolerance and expectance for foreign cultures. As educators, this is one of our primary goals. Yes, the study of Asia is not a large subsection in the prescribed standers we all must adhere. However, the education of tolerance of our fellow man is at the core our public education system and we are the conduit though which this message must be disseminated. I can think of no better way to proliferate ideas of equality and expectance than teaching our students about a culture and way of life that is so juxtaposed to theirs. If students can conceptualize such foreign ideas of religion, language and art they will be much closer to understanding what it means to embrace the hole of humanity and realize their place in it.
October 19, 2010 at 9:06 am #26043Anonymous
GuestAsia is becoming a world power. We have to teach our students why Asia is becoming as powerful as it is, or why it has the potential to surpass the US as one of the strongest armies in the world, if it hasn't done so already. Most of the worlds population is in Asia, it would wise for us to teach our students about the different cultures. Those cultures are going to spread around the world faster than any other culture because of sheer numbers. If we are going to teach our students to become aware of not only local, but world politics, Asia has to be in the curriculum for it. It is also important to me as a way to connect with some of my students. I have very few asian students in my class, it would be great if I am able to talk about them about their culture as well as their traditions.
October 21, 2010 at 4:08 pm #26044Anonymous
GuestTeaching about Asia is important in today's world. Earlier this evening there was a commercial on CNN presenting a lecture of a professor in 2030 China. The purpose of the commercial was to criticize the Stimulus policies of the American government. The commercial ended by the statement of the Chinese professor that because of the mistakes of the government now Americans work for China. The information presented reminded me about the importance of teaching students about East Asia not because China is becoming more and more economically powerful but for the simple fact all countries or regions of the world would be completely interdependent to each other in the future. Knowing about the history and culture of East Asian countries and respectively other regions would help our students better understand the dynamics in today's world and be successful in any field of study and future profession.
October 22, 2010 at 2:48 am #26045Anonymous
GuestInteresting article on Yahoo about China trying to phase out native Tibetan languages and teach only in Chinese. Tibetans see this as trying to destroy their culture and identity. Chinese see it as trying to unify the country. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the future. It's also mentioned in the article that the number of worldwide Internet users using Chinese now outnumbers the number using English. China (and all of Asia) has been teaching English in their schools for decades. Maybe now it's time for our students to start learning Chinese.
December 7, 2010 at 5:28 am #26046Anonymous
GuestNow that we have come to the end of the seminar, I feel I can better answer this question. Asia is HUGE. It's vast geography, economic might and population have made it a powerhouse. Although Europe and South America are major contributors to the world economy, Asia is the future. Already, many of our products are made in China or elsewhere in Asia; some of calls are directed to centers in India and America has seen a great increase in its asian population. In America, we need to work with Asia in order to ensure our own future and prosperity; we cannot have a Eurocentric view of the world. Students today need to know the importance of the emerging Asian market and focus how to work with such a tiger. If can understand Asia and partner with its rising economy then we will surely succeed.
December 7, 2010 at 6:04 am #26047Anonymous
GuestI teach in a predominantly Latino area and the few Asian students I do have seem to either isolate themselves of be isolated by others. I want to learn more about the various Asian countries and cultures so that I can better integrate lessons about the places where my students are from. Teaching about Asia could help minimize the cultural divide among my students and showcase the similarities that we share as human beings.
January 5, 2011 at 1:02 pm #4425clay dube
SpectatorDon't you already have enough to do? Isn't there already too much ground to cover? What good is adding East Asian content to your curriculum? What is to be gained? And lost?
January 5, 2011 at 1:02 pm #26048Anonymous
GuestYes, unfortunately, even though there are a diverse group of people from around the world in California and Los Angeles, many of us attend or live in communities that are hyper-segregated. What makes this situation even more problematic is the curriculum taught in schools tends to be bias or Euro-centric. I am not against learning about European history and culture, I just feel the curriculum could be more inclusive of other groups. We never really get to learn about and value the beautiful differences that exist in our city and state.
gletford wrote:
Like I said earlier, I am a UCLA graduate and during my time there I distinctly remember not knowing anything about Asian culture and thinking every Asian I met was Chinese. As I started to talk to people about their heritage and learn about the different Asian cultures, I became fascinated with that region.Now I see my low-income Latino elementary students are in that same mind set of thinking every Asian is Japanese. I believe music is a wonderful medium to introduce the vast differences of cultures to young students. Last year, my students performed a song in complete Japenese and it totally quieted the room. We learned so much of the culture just by singing this simple song. I am looking to expand on that experience.
That's why we teach about Asia!
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