East Asia? Why Bother?

[clay dube]

Don't we already have enough to try to accomplish with our students?

Why should we work to incorporate East Asia into our crowded curriculum?

[Anonymous]

I think having some knowledge of the geography, culture, history and economic importance of East Asia is important for our students. Asia is one of the major players in our increasingly globalized economy, having some of the largest economies in the world and being very important in regard to trade. It has a large portion of the world's population with numbers that are increasing. If our students are going to be the leaders, business people, engineers, lawyers, environmentalist, etc. of the future it would benefit them to have some background in Asian studies. Now, where do we fit it into our hectic schedules?

[Anonymous]

Interesting how some of the topics we discussed in class last night were brought up in my class today. I told my students about this class I am taking, and their reaction was why? What is important about China/Asia? All they know about Asia is the Samurai, the Great Wall, chopsticks, and sushi.
When I told them about the amount of trade we do with Asia, the economic impact Asia has on our economy, and now the issues with No. Korea, they seemed to show an interest. Until I made these comments, all they felt was important or knew much about was the US, Mexico/Latin America and some parts of Europe.
Just one observation and I'm wondering how everyone else fared.

[Anonymous]

I think you pose a good question with why bother with East Asia. However, as we realized in class the economy of the United States is very much tied into the economy of our East Asian counterparts. I look forward to giving my kids more insights on a part of the world that has always been mysterious to most Americans. I finally started doing some readings on the early dynasties of China. The Qin dynasty which lasted only 14 years yet did so much in developing China's society. The whole idea of the son of heaven and receiving the Mandate of Heaven. This reminds me of the Egyptian pharoah who was seen as a god. However, different in the fact that the Mandate could be loss and a new dynasty would take over. Also, the elaborate 6' soldiers found next to the grave of Shi Huangwe (I think), over 15,000 have been uncovered. I was able to relay some of this history to my kids and they were amazed. Of course we also had a chance to look at his evil rulership and it gave the kids insight to an ancient China that was every bit as interesting and even more so than Egypt, Mesopotamia, etc. I must admitt usually when it came to teaching China in the 10th grade standards, I found a way to get around the material, now I look forward to incorporating not only China but East Asia in my teaching of world history.

[Anonymous]

We could probably ask this question for much of our curriculum, and I'm not sure I could come up with the best answers, but I do think I understand why East Asian culture is becoming increasingly significant to our world. As we learned in class, much of our culture continues to be influenced by and connected to the East Asian world. Mandarin is spoken by more people than any other language, and we are becoming more interconnected with people of East Asia all the time. I think East Asia is too easily overlooked or left out by our educational system. I didn't learn about East Asian cultures when I was in the primary grades and, in fact, not until I was almost finished with college. I see now how truly important and influential these cultures are and think they should be emphasized much more in our curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Will we cover the issues and implications around Taian's exclusion from the UN?

[Anonymous]

As we discussed in class, with increasing globalization and interconnectivity between cultures, East Asia is extremely important to our world. More people speak Mandarin than any other language, and the technological advances of East Asia are far and above what most of the modern world has reached. Education has not paid enough attention to this extremely influencial culture in my opinion and I believe it needs to do so.

[Anonymous]

If the Bank of China gives the U.S. any more credit, we'll be speaking Chinese in 30 years so we'd better start learning something about their economy/culture/history now! Seriously, as a Social Studies teacher, I would say that my knowledge is sorely lacking in this area and I do believe that East Asia will soon become the dominant economy in the world, if it is not already. We all need to know more about East Asia and teach what we can to our students.

Karen Llewellyn

[Anonymous]

Not that this is the only good reason, but.. Ancient China is a mandatory piece of curriculum from the CA state standards for the 6th grade. The question,"why bother?" could basically be asked about the study and teaching of any civilization. Why bother teaching about Ancient Greece? Egypt? Early man?
Excluding any major world civilization would seem to be illogical, who would decide what parts of the world are legitimate to learn about,which were insignificant, and on what basis?
I think figuring out that different cultures unite human beings in the knowledge that most early civilizations have much in common; they developed from hunter/gatherers through technology and agriculture to a modern day world market, and an instant information-age.

[Anonymous]

I think another reason to integrate East Asia into our curriculum is because our neighborhoods in LA (and by extension, our public schools) are becoming increasingly segregated. My school is 96% Latino, 1% Asian, and 1% black, so students are only learning about other races from rather unreliable sources, like rumors, pop culture, or their parents.

I think this is leading to decreased tolerance and understanding between races, because students learn to be tolerant through exposure. If we can't integrate our classrooms, we can at least try to expose the students to other cultures and beliefs.

So why East Asia? Well, since it's so foreign to my students, teaching my students what they have in common with ancient Asians is a good way to show them that all humans have certain things in common.

m@x

[Anonymous]

Beause east asia is the most populous region in the world. And if we are to build a American citizenry of articulate students then our students should be exposed to different cultures. Asia has one of the most richest and vivid culture in world history. Knowledge is power and it is our goal as teachers to educate. Furthermore it is part of our content standards.

[Anonymous]

It's not just that we have to adhere to standards, but the study of East Asia is key to promoting understanding of East Asian cultures here in America. When I think of how my Korean students appear every year with "Jennie" and "Daniel"on their rosters, I can't help but think how lazy we in education can be. Is it easier to call someone Jenny than to say Suk?? Are we thinking of what a name means and how that name represents self-esteem?

[Anonymous]

I have to confess my motivation is to better provide for my students. We certainly can not ignore China and Japan and teach 7th grade. Looking at the standards with a Legalist eye, one must teach these topics...

[Anonymous]

To know the history of our world we must understand the complete history, which means not just studying the Western Civilizations. The Asian cultures of China (and India!) are part of the 6th grade history standards, however, not just standards knowledge, but rather a more balanced view of our world is essential for our students to interact in the future with other countries and cultures. The 21st century classroom is so much more connected with the world.

[Anonymous]

I think that for so many Americans in general and Angelenos in specific are ignorant of Asian countries, languages, cultures, etc. To so many of my students, all Asians are Chinese or Chinos. Asia's population is incredibly diverse, especially within China. We even teach China in such a way that seems to unify it into one people. This kind of thinking is eventually destructive in the way we deal with one another. In spite of what we learn, for example, about shiites, sunnis, and kurds, don't most of us think of them as those darn Iraqis. I think the same kind of thinking transfers over to Africa and Latin America, too. We, as teachers, can help to illuminate the beauty of difference as well as the beauty of our similarities. This is a responsibility or ours.

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