Session 1 (9/23) - Demography & Geography

[Donna Lee]

Because I am a school counselor, I don't get to teach on academic subjects. However, I am a big promoter of being a global citizen. I think we need to learn how to take care of the earth and living in America's abundance, we sometimes lose sight and can become wasteful. 

As for discussing the aging population, we can always talk about how we appreciate our grandpaterns and learn from their lives. I think being in the US, the challenge is that the culture is more individualistic more than family oreinted. I wish there was a shift in American culture to not be as selfish and know what it means to be in a group dynamic like other cultures on the world. 

[Donna Lee]

With the rising number of workers in the industrial revolution, there is a need for transportation, housing, food, that drove the US to invest in infrastructure. But there was also a growing popularity with unions that were fighting for higher wages that probably helped increase the US GDP.

[Julie Wakefield]

One of the areas I focus on when teaching about aging populations (both in East Asia and Europe) is the need for a tax paying labor force. This comes in the discussion of a dependency ratio - the young and elder cohorts dependent on the working class. Then we talk about population policies which are pronatalist and immigration policies to increase the work force now and in the future. It is important to also point out that this is distinctly a problem with highly developed countries.

[Julie Wakefield]

It is completely undestandable in the 1800's that Japan and China were looking to more isolationist policies of self-containment and self-support. European countries and the US were coming on strong (economically and militarily) to expand their empire looking for resources and markets - both of which they knew existed in China and Japan. 

I would pose the question of advantages and disadvantges to the students of this type of policies in a brainstorming idea - I wold encourage them to think about the economic and cultural consequences of both sides.  

[Brigid Schmidt]

An aging society poses a myriad of both disadvantages and some advantages. I would want my students to think critically about the potential consequences so as to mitigate perceived harms while capitalizing on the benefits therein. I would ensure their understanding fits within the context of government family planning policies as a primary driver for these dynamics while tactfully explaining the residual effects of said dictates on later generations. 

One advantage is that older people are statistically less likely to commit serious and/or violent crimes which would trickle down to create a safer society. Another perverse incentive for an aging population is the propensity of adults to remain productive in the workforce longer if lifespans extend. This increased contribution to society without any adverse, antisocial behavior makes for a prosperous and stable region.

Disadvantages are multifaceted, but rest squarely on the economic burden to a society that will have to sustain elderly adults during the latter years of their life. Furthermore, when that generation does begin to retire en masse the workforce will constrict dramatically due to declining birth rates. It seems apparent to me that the advantages are short-term while the disadvantages come later at a steep price. However, I would want my students to reach their own conclusions when presented with the facts.

[Brigid Schmidt]

While I would assume the U.S. would be quite low in terms of Shares of World Manufacturing prior to the Industrial Revolution, it was even smaller than I predicted. China and India had over half the world's GDP and the U.S. hardly showing. The Industrial Revolution had a major impact on Northern Europe, the U.K. and Germany, and of course the U.S. We see the size of these economies start to grow as more jobs are created. It is interesting to see the changes in the world during this time. While I don't teach history, my students read many articles and work with informational text. This could be a starting prompt for a compare/contrast piece about the world before and after the Industrial Revolution. 

[Jennifer Dikes]

I teach an International Baccalaureate global politics class, and one of the major themes of the course is understanding the origins of conflict, and to look at the ways that nations, regions and the international community manage conflict. While my 11th and 12th grade students already understand in abstract that nations fight over resources, they don't really know how to apply that general understanding that they've learned in previous history classes to understanding the present day. The example mentioned in the lecture of the dam built by North Korea that has been used to flood South Korea is something I was not aware of. My students study North Korea and its attempts to use its nuclear weapons as a way to increase their power, influence and access to trade and other support to bolster their economy. I could certaintly incorporate this example of using the most basic resource of water and water management as a part of its larger attempt to leverage what little it has over South Korea.

Students in my IB classes also must complete three research projects over 2 years. Two of those research projects must focus around big global challenges and analyze the ways that state and non-state actors may attempt to address (or ignore) these challenges. One of these is the environment. I could encourage students to look into water management in China or Japan as examples of the way that the state may support one set of goals for water management which may or may not be supported by non-state actors and individuals that are impacted. The building of the Three Gorges Dam comes to mind as an example I could suggest to my students, as well as the role of water in the tensions between India and China over Kashmir.

[Ester Yang]

In my 8th grade science class, we have been reading about the use of water and what we can do to save it. With the ongoing wildfire, the use of water has gone up significantly and the students have been concerned about their resources. I use graphic organizers through an app called Nearpod to show data and we have an engaging discussion around it. 

[Jennifer Dikes]

I found the letter from the Qianlong emperor to George III absolutely fascinating. I have previously studied some (and taught) the "opening" of Japan to the US, but have never looked at the exact process of Europe forcing China into more open trade. In the past, my students have started with the assumption that all communication and trade is positive - how could it be bad to talk to people? I can imagine that the British had a hard time comprehending the level of contempt expressed in this letter. While the American Revolution had not exactly turned out as expected, the British certainly expected that all governments would welcome both their money and their interference. Showing students that there was a government both powerful enough and culturally self aware enough to hold themselves above the British at this time would be important for them to see.

I personally struggle with teaching students to see the desire for this trade and control as mperialism. Students are used to understanding an empire as territorial. They understand taking control of Hong Kong or Macao as creating an empire; it has been harder to explain that being forced to open trade is part of the same process.

The letter of the Qianlong emperor would be helpful in making this clearly - he clearly sees and understands China as the center of power and understands how the British would interfere with that power. Using the GDP data from 1800 would also emphasize this point - China was 33% of the world's GDP and it made sense for the emperor to make decisions to protect that.

This would also be useful for connecting to the present day and the current tensions over trade between China and the US.

[Zoey McKinney]

When China and Japan limited access of foreign traders to their countries, they were doing so to protect themselves from military force, as well as cultural influence. This can be seen especially in the letter from Emperor Qianlong and the excerpts from Shinron. Qianlong discusses the "inevitable" friction that would occur if foreign people were allowed to move freely around China, as well as their disinterest in learning more about Christianity. He makes it clear the European values are vastly different from Chinese values, and for this reason, King George's request for more access to the counry must be denied. Aizawa Seishisai explicitly refers to foreign powers as "predators," showing the fear that the Japanese had of opening their country. Closing a country to foreign people may decrease cultural exchange or the risk of conflict for a time, but it also cuts the country off from the rest of the world. It cannot reap the benefits of cultural exchange, such as the adoption of new technology from other countries and the economic gain that comes from the increased trade. A modern day comparison would be North Korea, which severely limits access to the country for many reasons, among them to diminish the influence of Western culture on its population.

[Susie Suh]

The Industrial Revolution is definitely an important aspect of studying U.S. History, and comparing it to the growth industries of other countries around the world will give students a broader perspective. I think it's pretty amazing for students when they realize just how young our country is compared to other countries/kingdoms. I like to stress the importance of immigration in shaping the American labor force and changing identity, as well as how much our country relied on slave labor to get to its place as an economic powerhouse. 

[Susie Suh]

Based on Emperor Qianlong's letter, it can be assumed that the Qing Dynasty viewed Great Britain with condescension. Emperor Qianlong uses flowery language to frame his disdain for Britain's suggestion of placing on envoy in Peking. He is emphatic that China has no need for anything Britain has to offer, and any gifts he received was accepted out of etiquette rather than want. He points out numerous times that China is the superior culture, and that Britain would do well to abide by the Qing Dynasty's customs and requests. 

[Susie Suh]

Looking at how China and Japan tried to limit foreign influence and trade is one way to show multiple perspectives on the same event. Students can try to see from the Western side why they would want to open these countries up for trade and how they went about doing it, and then compare that to China and Japan's reasons for not wanting to let foreigners in. They can then do a comparison chart of positives and negatives for both sides, and analyze who benefitted most from subsequent events/actions. 

[Thomas Pineda]

After reading a few of the articles related to the demographics around East Asia, I found the particular issue of the labor shortages very intriguing since my classes often relate to STEM. A few of the issues that came up regarding the shift, or decline, in populations around this country seem to be related to current trends in our society as well, regarding an increase of women in the workforce and lower birthrate. However, I'm not quite sure my 6th graders have that type perspective on life quite yet. I do think that many of them come from large, collective families traditionally and may have many older adults or grandparents around their communities- so I think that could be a closer link to the trends presented in the articles. Where I'm most excited to involve my students is to see their thoughts on ways to innovate uses of machines, robots and "smarter devices" into different industries, like the examples presented in nursing homes. Relating the challenges they or others may face in taking care of aging populations, I wonder what types of ideas or innovations they might come up with. Our discussion could dive further into the ethics of using these types of machines for work, as well as the impact they would have on the population, planet and other resources in the future.

[Tara Corral]

As I was listening to the problems within East Asia, I guess I was surprised that each country is expereincing a lack of water. Clayton Dube pointed out that though there is a lot of Monsoons in East Asia they still are struggling with retrieving enough water for the whole country. I imagine that monsoon rain comes to quick and with a downpour that it does more damage then it does good. 

I have always tried to think of what is my part as a Visual Art teacher as our world continues to make efforts to go green. How do I begin to make the necessary steps in creating a more green environment. My biggest struggle seems to be the waste of water when the students wash their supplies and the  waste of paper. Ive been very strict with my students that only one paper is allowed even if you make a mistake. I would like to develop more eco friendly assignments that students can keep and use. I could incorporate information about other nations stats on usage of water and amount readily available to them and begin to try and teach my students how to be conscious of how much we consume. Hopefully they will begin to understand how important it is that we must not be wasteful.

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