session #8 readings (dube, 10/16)

[Matthew Wong]

Chris, I agree with you that I also need to incorporate more graphics into my lessons as they build and expand understanding of history and the social sciences. One aspect of Dube's lectures that I appreciated was how Dube used charts, posed questions about the charts, and led us to think deeper about what we have read and are learning in class. The example of "growth versus development" was a prime example of how we can prompt students to think more deeply about history, and in this case, its impact on China. 

[Matthew Wong]

In “History of the Chinese Revolution,” Sun outlines his vision for a modern China based on democratic ideals. It is my understanding that Sun is considered a founding father by the people of mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Sun’s plan, however, seems to have only become reality in Taiwan. Today’s Taiwanese government has been strongly influenced by Sun’s ideas. I have always wondered why Taiwan had an Examination and Control Yuan, but now I know.

 

It’s interesting how Sun ties his vision for China with the ideas of the Enlightenment Period. Sun states, “The principles which I have held in promoting the Chinese revolution were in some cases copied from our traditional ideals, in other cases modeled on European theory and experience and in still others formulated according to original and self-developed theories.” This suggests that Sun is truly thinking more deeply about how to bring China into the modern age, past the dynastical changes of years past. It also suggests that the impact of the Enlightenment and the American Revolution continued to influence many parts of the world. For my students, I think sharing this with them will be more meaningful, as many of my students are ethnically Chinese. 

[Ann Huynh]

I am impressed by the MIT website "Visualizing Cultures."  This is a great way to obtain images to use in the classroom and help the students see what and how the Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean are different from each other.  The numerous problems that plague China caused many notable people in China to leave and devise solutions to help her.  As a result, what ultimately happened was that a new leadership would arise, the Communist Party and the Nationalist Party.  I never knew that the Nationalist Party would eventually leave China and rule Taiwan because they ended up losing the battle to unify China under their rule.  Furthermore, the man known as the father of modern China, Sun Yat Sen, was educated in Hawaii and Hong Kong and is widely recognized and celebrated in China during China's National Day.  On the other hand, I never knew that the Communist Party displayed pictures of Lenin and Stalin, including Marx and Engel during certain times of the year.  When this happen, it is a big deal, like July 4 in America.  I would like to link and connect these two ideas together so students will understand why certain days are so important.   

[Catalina Silvestre]

In the reading, “A visit to the United States during the Wilson and Harding administrations”. I was extremely interested in the breakdown of how Americans allocate their time.  This breakdown was extremely interesting to me in terms of how individual Americans are structured to use their time.  This is a good piece for refection as it makes me think about the various ways in which a person can shit their time to allocate it and use it in other areas to make greater progress in different areas.  This is an extremely great thought-provoking piece of writing.  I believe that I could use this literature selection in excerpt form to create a thought provoking conversation.  I would use this alongside of the self-generating questions strategies to form questions that would then be used to lead a Socratic discussion.  I believe that this can be used as a great motivational lesson to keep students motivated as well as aware of their use of time.        

[Catalina Silvestre]

When I was in middle school I believe that I was made aware of foot binding.  Until this course I had not given it anymore-extreme thought.  Men and women as considered bound feet a sign of beauty.  The practice had to do with feet being pinned and wrapped together to obtain smaller feet in accordance with the aesthetic pleasure of the society.  In various societies there are expectations of beauty.  In western society this consist of body augmentation as well as simple things including wearing heels.  In China many women did not have a free choice due to the foot binding starting, as they were young girls.  I plan on using this subject content to have my students do a cause and effect activity where they identify what was happening and why they determined that this was necessary.  Students will receive both an information text as well as watch a short video on the subject.  The students will then place this information into a cause and effect graphic organizer.  To follow up I will have the students will research and write a summary paragraph using a template to help guide their writing about the topic.  I ultimately believe that this is a good subject to use because it is exciting and introduces the students to ideas form another part of the world.  My goal is to always make and create global learners that are aware of the world around them while building reading and listening comprehension skills.           

[Catalina Silvestre]

In Sun Yat-sen, “Fundamentals of National Reconstruction” three principles are discussed and I can agree with a few.  I continue to gain insight and an extreme joy for what I am gaining trough participating in these seminars.  Principle one deals with a push to maintain independence in the family of nations.  I believe that this is important to maintain culture while falling into a melting pot or hat is considered to be the norm.  Continuing to identify as an individual nation while assuring the best for the people of that nation, region, or culture would be lost in the mix of what others try to make hem become accustomed to. The second principle is the principle for democracy.  I agree with tis because I believe that a mass group of people needs some sort of guidance to have order or there will be chaos.  Last is the principle of livelihood where the people of the nation need to merge livelihood with nationalism in order to succeed in economics and cohesively to move the nation towards success.  

[Nira Sun]

While reading everyone's comments on foot binding, it makes me thinking maybe this topic can be extended to "body image". Positive body image, which can be built from self-perception and peer perception, has been a popular topic recently. Along with the popularity of all kinds of social medias, students tend to "abuse" the freedom of speech creating negative comments on their peers' appearance. For middle school and high school students, a debate probably will be a great opportunity to do research and present information. Even a simple discussion can get students gain deeper insight on a topic that is crucial to teenagers.

[Ann Huynh]

Reading “Things About America and Americans” made me think about how accurate Xu Zhengkeng observations are about Americans.  The focus on money, time, and leisure.  What stood out was at the end of the text he had a conversation with an American on a train, and he went on to talk about the educational system in America.  Xu Zhengkeng felt that the universities on the “East Coast are the best and that the universities in the west are of low caliber.”  Ironically, all the Ivy League colleges are located on the East Coast, and every year when a list of the top ten colleges are revealed, most of the Ivy League schools showed up on the list.  This has not changed even to this day.      

[Matthew Wong]

I also found this article, "Things about America and Americans" interesting and insightful. Xu is detailed when he explains the value of money, the role of superstitutions, the American household, and the education of children and at the university level. One of the interesting aspects of the article focused on the number 13 and how Americans do not like the number. He states that the number 13 is a bad number, similar to the number 4 in Chinese culture, because of Jesus and the Last Supper. Xu also challenges the notion that only the Chinese are superstitious. When I read this, I thought about how all cultures have certain traditions or even superstitions. 

[Sonia Arrayales]

Rick,

I think that the assignment that you would present to your class is a good task. Having students see the the differences in time, can help them analyze the change to come in the next 25 years.

 

[Luis Camacho]

Session #8 by Luis M. Camacho

This session was in some way a wakeup call for the material people; “Things about America and Americans” expose in some way a large group of our society here in the US. We became in participants of a nonsense race to reach many material goals that most of the time, has not meaning but inflate our ego. In Asian cultures it is important to ask a new person what is his /her name, occupation, age, and some other personal characteristics. For some people here in America, the success and important characteristics of a person are the total of square feet of the place they own, the name of the store where they shop, the brand of the car they drive, etc.

Some of the best memories I had of my time working in China are directly connected with the simplicity of the people’s lives. They can find happiness at a picnic on their day off (at that time in year 2000, were only four days per month), a visit to a museum or a park and some other activities that the people in Ningbo used to do and enjoy.

I think that this little touch of simplicity will be very useful to talk about in our classrooms. Let’s inform to our students that it is fine to enjoy their life, with simple things it is more important that all the “likes” in the social networks.

 

[Cristina Hernandez]

Session 8 "Things about America and Americans"

I agree that it will be a great way to implement this reading in the classroom by having the students compare and contrast the content of this article to the way of living in East Asia.  However, I will also show the students clips of documentaries about contemporary people's lives in those countries.  Furthermore, it will be a good experience for them to infer what could be the motives of East asian teenagers when they look up towards the future.  It will be interesting to see how teenagers every where in the world are pretty similar, when it comes to their dreams and goals.  I would like to focus more on education in China and on the big test (Gao Kao) the students have to take in order to enter the university and the tests (SAT) we take here in America. 

 

[Alejandra Jimenez]

I find disturbing this particular practice because you are changing human anatomy at a very early age. As a woman if I waer slightly tight shoes my feet will swell and I either will not be able to take them off or I will get them off immediately if I feel any discomfort. I knoe that feet binding was cultura. I hope that we have learned that a few things in our cultures just do not need to be practice if it causes physical harm to any individual. I think nowadyas that will be considered child abuse due to the age foot binding was practice on very young girls. I agree with Christine this practice was way off. I am sure when these girls that were chosen to go though the process of foot binding, they were in alot of pain, I wonder how did they cope of the pain and physical deformity as adults. Did they get someone to walk them around town.

After learning about this practice, this topic has left me with more question than aswers. The only other practice in America to foot binding is ballarinas baing able to balance themselves on their sleepers, but most of them they choose the career as oppose to baing chosen by somebody else.

[Alejandra Jimenez]

Pekin a city of diplomacy.

In early China's history Peking was an imporatant city where Prince Kung and other high Chinese officials dealt with political meetings. According to the article China-Concersations with Prince Kung was written in a narrative way that I think I would read passages to my students when discussing relationships between China and America. I believe that it is important to inform students about the long history beween the two nations have had for many years. Another way to introcude students to the relationship between these two counties is to compare and contrast as the author has written this particular text in a narrative form.

I really enjoyed reading the text because the journey to Peking is described to an extent that I personally believe that I would like to travel to Peking during that time in history.

The meeting was between the Prince, General Grant as he recountes, "The General replied that he had reveived nothing but honor and courtesy from China." During this time the Emperor was a child of seven years old under the care of thwo empresses. I found very interesting a part where the prince comments about having female daughters not being part of a happy family as it states in the text, "..heased whether the Colonelwas married and had children. When told that the Colonel had one chld, a gaughter, the Prince condoled with him, saying, "what a pitty" In China you must remember that a female children do not countin the sumof human happiness, and when the prince expressed his regret at the existance of the General's granddaughter, he was saying the most polite thing he knew." I found shocking the Prince statement to one of his Colonel, but he said the opposite to Genaral Grant.

The negative stigma about females has been a long history with China.

[Lin ZhaoDavison]

Amir makes a good connection between Sun Yatsen and the western ideas.  Sun was credited as a pioneer of Chinese democracy as he promoted importance of people over governance.  Sun studied in Japan and thus might be influenced by some western thoughts.  What side would Sun take during the Civil War? This is a very good question!  The Civil War was between Mao, head of mainland China, and Jiang Jieshi, head of Taiwan.  Sun's wife was sister of Jiang's wife. The complicated and deliate family relations would have impacted the Civil War.  Students do some research on this question and have a debate on Sun's position during the Civil War.

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