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Gerlinde GoschiFirst, I wish to express my gratitude to Dr. Dube, Catherine, and the professors, I had the pleasure to learn and grow from during the period of this course. I am sincerely grateful!
I feel it is a privilege to attend these seminars as they always help me grow as an educator. I learned by being a student at the USC US-China Institute that not only am I stimulated to think in new ways, the more I learn, the more I realize how much more there is to learn. This is why I love my profession, I am able to remain a lifelong learner and student. A recurring question examined throughout the course is “How do we discuss the past?” This is an important and relevant question to ask my students. Dr. Dube shared some great examples of how different historians think about the past. Frances Wood argues that Marco Polo did not go to China and presents tenable explanations of why this can’t be true. Historians, like Jonathan Spence, offer different perspectives. I am intrigued by his book The Emperor of China, a history of China written in the first person. I will research this further.
I will incorporate this book into my middle school curriculum. The most fascinating part of the course for me was the Qing Dynasty; how it was established, its extended duration, its success, and its fall. This is a topic I would like to explore with my students further. It offers a historically rich backdrop for much critical thinking, discussions, and expression of different views. The bigger discussion in this context would be “How do we talk about it? How do we discuss this past in Chinese history? What parallels can we draw to the present?” I also learned of many new websites which I will share with my students during the lessons.
Consequently, I enjoyed the forum discussions and the many resources shared by my colleagues. I always am fascinated by the wealth of expertise teachers are so kindly willing to share. They are so helpful and always benefit my students. Thank you! I enjoyed seeing old friends and making new ones! We are so busy during the school year with work that it is so refreshing to partake in this seminar sharing ideas, perspectives, resources, and some scholarly debates.
Gerlinde GoschiI was curious to find out what is the Manchuria of our discussions and reading today in class, in China today? HIstory books call it Manchuria. We learned to name it Manchuria as well. I came across an article entitled "A Brief History of Manchuria" (https://www.thoughtco.com/where-is-manchuria-195353) and read that the Manchu people themselves and the Chinese do not use the term Manchuria, but call it "the Northeast" or the "Three Northeast Provinces." These are known as Guandong (means "east of the pass"). In the English name remains Manchuria. I remember Dr. Dube mentioning this in one of our classes.
Gerlinde GoschiHi Marcos! I like the idea for a lesson comparing th articles. It is an interesting topic. The Kumeyaay existence in Baja for at least 1,300 years is important history, not only to Californians, but to all. It is also a great lesson to teach students the importance to pass on a language to the younger generation. The parallels to Manchu make a great Venn diagram project for a small group. After the compare & contrast analysis, students could either present their findings to the entire class or have a discsussion about what they thought.
Gerlinde GoschiI was slightly surprised to read that there is no interest in learning Manchu or advocating for its survival. The 26 year old lawyer, Chen, felt this about Manchu:"My personal opinion is that we should let it be, because some languages will slowly fade away," Chen replied matter-of-factly. "I don't think we should do something to intentionally preserve them. What will die out, will finally fade away." As a child, I listened to many conversations of adults in the neighborhood, often these were about the importance of preserving a language. The elderly of the neighborhood saw it their duty to speak their native tongue with their children in order to ensure its survival. I grew up with many languages. It was the norm. The elderly in my the neighborhood of my childhood would be insulted by this comment. They would scold this young man and tell him he does not know what he is saying. Times have changed though. The professor in the aticle makes a very valid and solid argument for preserving Manchu. Books are huge treasures, and since there are quite a few still available containing precious information, it would be a great loss if no one was able to read these or no one was around to teach the language. The lawyer mentions that he is captivated by the legacy of the Qing Dynasty but not interested in its language, Manchu. Can the two be separated? Isn't Manchu an important part of the Qing Dynasty? Shouldn't the language be an essential part of the study of a dynasty? These would be good questions to ask students and ask them to debate in class. It would make an interesting period.
Gerlinde GoschiHi, Christine. I found this very interesting. The discussion of the difference between the two terms. I know that students as well as adults including myself use them interchangeably which is not correct. It would make for a good unit of study to pose the question to students:"How did China become the economic force it is today?" Ask students what they think after researching it and after a few mini-lessons on important Chinese historical milestones. Was it development? Was it growth? Or a combination of both over certain periods of time? Was there only growth during one era and development during the next? I would actually like to research it deeper myself.
Gerlinde GoschiHi LInda, yes, that is a great idea. A graphic organizer is a great tool for students to arrange and review their thoughts and ideas. As we said today in class, comparing and applying the history learned to today's issues makes it more relevant and interesting. Students will be able to retain and understand the proclamations if they are able to relate them to the present. "So What?" is a recurring question in the middle school classroom. Yes, this age group loves a good debate and arguments.
Gerlinde GoschiStudents read the article. Watch brief video on the Histpry Magazine website (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2016/03-04/the-great-wall-of-china/). In groups of two they discuss what they learned writing ideas down. Students pick a topic: Northern Aggression, Trading with Enemies, or Watchers on the Wall. They discuss the question: "Do you think the Great Wall was effective? Why or why not?" Groups present to the class their arguments and ideas. The audience asks questions. As a follow up: students are assigned a role: a Chinese soldier on Northwest border or a Mongol herder. They descirbe their daily lives, challenge and success of the day. They state their opinion about the effectiveness of the Great Wall citing the article. They present this to the class.
Gerlinde GoschiWorries of social and political observers of imperial China? In these proclamations, Hongwu Emperor states: "the corruption of high officials occupying positions that made extortion or acceptance of bribes all too easy; and the disruptive and dishonest activities of the assorted underlings, runners, guards, and servants who did the bidding of officials and controlled ordinary people's access to them." As explained in the reading this reveals much "about the working of the bureaucracy and its impact on people's lives." These quote would make a great anticipatory set for my eigth graders continued by reading parts of the article together. Students will work in small groups to answer the question: "Do you think these statements are relevant in today's political and social scene in the USA? How so?/ How not so? Give three examples of why this might be/not be." At the end of class, there will be a debate of in front of students involving each small group. Evidence for each argument will be presented.
Gerlinde GoschiI love this lesson idea! I would borrow it and teach it to my ninth graders. I enjoyed reading the article in the link! It is very interesting and I agree with the arguments Howard Gardner presents advocating philosophy courses on college campuses. Incidentally, Howard Gardner, the author of the article and a developmental psychologist, developed the Theory of Multiple Intelligences in 1986. Although this theory was met with much criticism at the beginning, it is widely used today in education. It allows a teacher to reach all or a bigger number of students while employing different teaching modalities and strategies. Since I teach at a bilingual school I use many different strategies and methods to reach all students, those who are fluent in the second language as well as those new to my class.
I would create a lesson for the ninth grade asking the same four big questions from above. After a mini lesson about Chinese philosophy and a class discussion, students would work in small group to formulate their own life philosophy incorporating elements taught by the Chinese philosophers. This would be very exciting to teach!
Gerlinde GoschiIn addition to teaching Haiku and Sijo during the unit "How we express ourselves?" I will also teach the Chinese forms of poetry: lushi, an eight line poem with five, six, or seven charcters per line, and jueju, a four line poem with five, six, or seven characters per line. Students would listen to a poem by Wang Wei. Together with the class we would write a jueju. Thereafter, students will try to compose their own jueju. All poems will be colllected and made into a "Poetry around the World" book. Students will also share their jueju in front of the entire class. As a follow up lesson, we will talk about chanting vs.singing. Students will listen to the Da Fu poem and chant "Ascending the Heights." As closure, students will try to chant the poems they wrote in the earlier lesson.
Gerlinde GoschiI will model to my students how to write a Sijo during our unit entitled "How we express ourselves?" I usually only teach Haikus during this period. I will, in addition, start teaching Sijo as well. Students will first write a Sijo together as a class with me and afterwards each student have to write their own and illustrate it. Students will share out loud once everyone has completed their peom.
Gerlinde GoschiI will introduce the Korean vowels to my class after a short history of its origins dated back to 1443 during the times of King Sejong the Great. I will also emphasize that Korean phonetic script and the moveable metal print predated this period to Gutenberg's bible. We will watch this short video and dance together to it learning how to show the characters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbfvzzzNeSc
At the end, students will team up with shoulder partners and practice with each other. Students then will perform all together as a class.
Gerlinde GoschiVirginia Woolf's description of the shaping of Shakespeare's sister's life reminded me of Professor Katsuya Hirano's presentation and his statement: " Understanding of history is constant questioning of the facts and what we are told to be the truth." It is important to ask and continue asking questions so answers will be found. Females did not have a voice during the period the article refers to. Virginia Woolf speculates what the voice of Shakespeare's sister would be like. Then she goes on to compare and contrast the life of Ho Nansorhon with that of Shakespeare's sister. Nansorhon grew up privileged who was not afraid to write poetry, her passion. Kichung Kim argues that "For a wellborn married woman of the times to do what Ho Nansorhon did must have been clear defiance of the public mores and morality of Choson society, and might even explain the many charges of plagiarism leveled against her by men of her own and later times." Prof. Hirano and Dr. Dube have both stated that history is written by the victors. This excerpt illustrates this clearly.
Gerlinde GoschiLegalism will prevail. Human nature is basically selfish. Therefore people can be manipulated by a set of rewards and punishments. The best tactic of control is fear. Laws should be very clear to all and they should be strictly enforced. People should focus on farming and agriculture. This will bring prosperity and in turn establish the resources needed for a strong military. A strong military, in turn, will give a stronghold and allow for holding on to power. All competing systems of thought will be exterminated. Legalists will exterminate Confucians, Mohists, and Daoists. In class, students will have a debate about which philosophy is the best one and why.
Gerlinde GoschiI found the Chinese government's move to transparency described in this article a promising step. Transparency seems not to have always been important to the government and it is progress. The app mentioned in the article and the willingness of the government to make data about polluting factories available to the people is "a remarkable change" as Tom Levitt stated. This Chinese citizen empowerment creates greater awareness of pollution and environmental issue.
