Why Study East Asia?

[Anonymous]

I too attended the Snapshots from Japan seminar this weekend. Like Julie, I was also surprised about some of the misconceptions about Japan's educational system. I enjoyed the Snapshots from Japan seminar greatly, but am well aware that the program only focused on 7 students. For that reason, I want to be careful about jumping to other conclusions. While the introduction to the lives of 7 Japanese students can undoubtedly give us a better picture and understanding of life for Japanese youths, I felt that it cannot possibly represent entirely the general feelings of most Japanese youth.
For one, I did not encounter any negative or critical commentary from the students selected. I don't want to know the negative aspects of Japanese youth or educational system to criticize the country, but instead to compare it to American youth and our educational system and see if our country has similiar problems to Japan.
I have heard from Japanese students who have come to study in the United States that their Japanese schools are structured and much more demanding than American schools. I have read journals regarding the suicide rates in Japan. I have met Japanese college students who say they come to school in the U.S. because it is easier to be accepted to an American university than a Japanese university. Perhaps, I have been misled by my encounters, or my encounters have been atypical.
In the U.S. there are also schools like those that we saw in the Snapshots from Japan seminar. There are boarding schools, all-boy or all girl schools, and alternative education schools. The problem is that most of us cannot afford them. I wonder how expensive these types of schools are in Japan and like Julie, I wonder how popular/prevalent they are.
About the Japanese students being able to take a semester off if needed, I wonder if they are required to take independent study during their semester off, or if they don't have to be exposed to any type of educational setting during their semester off. If they don't have to do anything, then that is really amazing, and I wonder if a student in the U.S. would have to have some sort of educational arrangement if they suffered from a nervous or psychological breakdown.

[Anonymous]

I think one of the main reasons Asia should be taught is that it has such an impact on the global economy. East Asia is now the mover and the shaker of the world.

Unfortunately, in the State Standards, exposure to East Asia is rather limited. (At least at the high school level). When I was in high school, there was virtually no exposure because 10th grade history only covered European history. I faced the same situation in college, because the course was not called World History but European history.

What message does this convey from the standpoint of the educators who put together the California curriculum? (6)

More emphasis should be placed on teaching Asia--yet it is difficult because of the regulation of the standards imposed upon us.

[Edit by="hpenrod on Jan 31, 10:11:41 AM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

The Snapshots from Japan was truly enlightening. I really had no idea just how many varieties of high schools there were in Japan. originally, I believed as most others do, that the students' lives are under a great deal of educational pressure. After seeing the options of different styles of high schools, I no longer see Japan as a country with only one road or failure. It has helped to dissolve part of the stereotype. By seeing that there is diversity in the students and their choice of schooling, my ideas of society are richer and less cartoonish.

[Anonymous]

With over 2 billion in population, its odd that people still tend to think of Asian countries as monolithic cultures. I thought this also until a few years ago, especially about Japan, since it has tried to keep itself a pretty homogenous culture. But, with that many people you are bound to get some different ideas. In some ways China is like the U.S., since its culture was constantly reinvigorated by people from outside its political borders. In our seminar we learned not only that the Mongols changed many things about China, but some of its earlier emperors, like emperor Wen who reunified China again aound 589, also came from tribes outside of China. Of course, this is true of other nations and empires throughout history. In fact, it is a mark and predictor of decline when a civilization closes its borders and its mind to people from other places.

[Anonymous]

I am very late because I cannot keep my dates straight. And... I don't know where to post this information. THE IMPACT OF THIS WORKSHOP.

I learned a great deal about East Asia. I told my students. We started projects. My favorite is our international show. It is happening on April 20th. We focus on as many cultures from our school as possible. Latins are broken into Salvadoreans, Guatemalans, Venezuelans, etc. Asians are Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, Chinese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Japanese (not too often), Korean (special dance this year), Philippines, etc. This is the most fun. UCLA and the Freeman Foundation have opened new doors to understanding some of these cultures. We are exploring together the wealth of information on the web as well as in the books and newspapers.

My Asian students are especially proud to showcase and present information about their culture and they are hoping to make their other teachers aware of these histories. They want to do a cultural fair as well as the show. I think we can organize it by next April.

The students are excited about their project (my lesson plan about manga) and I am excited to see what they will create. Despite the lack of an art teacher at our school, we have some gifted visual artists. One boy in my humanities class knows that I enjoy manga and brings me books all of the time -- I have become a quick reader of comics. With the popularity of anime movies and anime-like films (Kill Bill, Sin City), we may design one of our shows to be a less violent rendition of the myths we have discovered from each culture. The humanities classes can design the set, lighting, costumes -- the dance classes can perform the show. This could be quite fun.

Besides the manga and mythology, I have fallen in love with literature again. I had lapsed into mystery reading for pleasure. This asian studies course has renewed my interest in other literature. I can pass on these poems and short stories to my humanities students. I plan a unit on them in June after the last show and after final tests. It will be a pleasurable, non-tested, non-graded activity.

Thank you for everything.

[Author]

Posts