[Jacqueline Mercado]

I must confess that I felt unsure about my commitment to this seminar for a couple of reasons:  I am not a history teacher by training and I did not have a sound knowledge base of East Asia.  This lack of knowlege is a result of the gaps in my own education and one reason I decided to enroll in the course. It is also my belief that teachers should be life learners and that we should seek opportunities to both learn new ideas and reflect on our teaching practice.  I hoped that the seminar would strengthen my content knowlege of world history by exposing me to a culture and history that I did not know much about so that I could become a better prepared teacher of history.  As I reflect on my experience going through this seminar, I feel that it has assisted both my learning and teaching practice in many ways.  It exposed me to new perspectives and voices that I had not been exposed to and offered me the space to reflect on my teaching practice and what I would like to emphasize in my classes as an educator.

While many ideas and information presented in this seminar will be useful in my work with my students, what would be most applicable in my teaching of world history would be the inclusion of perspectives and voices that are not traditionally taught nor studied for the purpose of creating understanding, empathy and connections to these in my students' lives.  By exposing my students to multiple perspectives and viewpoints, I hope to facilitate the process of a debate and cause shifts in the perspectives of my students.  Throughout this seminar I learned that by approaching any issue through the prism of a debate, I can cause my students to think through their assumptions and help them develop more inclusive and broader perspectives.  This idea of shifts in perspectives is linked to another idea presented in the seminar that I would like to emphasize in my teaching and that is that history is a narrative that can be revised if new information dictates revisions.  This is an important lesson to teach to students as truth is often times elusive and students need a framework from which to build upon and strategies to help them research for the untold story.

In addition to these ideas presented in the seminar, multiple teaching strategies were introduced that I will implement into my teaching practice.  I was impressed with the importance of preparation and research, the inclusion of detail and primary texts and how these inserts help fluidity, engagement and execution of lessons.  I was impressed by how much detail and primary texts were inserted in the presentations throughout the course and this inspired me to think about how student engagement depends on my prepartion of lessons.  Student engagement can also be heightened by the integration of political cartoons and other visuals.  There are many skills that students can learn from the elements of propaganda and the power of persuasion.  This seminar has reminded me that visual can be a strategic teaching tool that can used to reach all students, especially my struggling students.  Another teaching strategy I would like to implement into my teaching is the interactive historical enounters activity.  Combined with the integration of visuals, this activity can help students create historical characters and narratives while fostering empathy and academic rigor.  I appreciated that through the development of a lesson, I had to consider how I would implement these in an actual lesson.

I thoroughly enjoyed this seminar and found it a valuable experience both as a learner and teacher.  I was impressed and inspired by the professionalism, expertise and enthusiasm the presenters exhibited.  Their passion for knowledge and their desire to create understanding showed through each presentation.  I look forward to enrolling in future seminars like this one and will recommend these to my colleagues.

[Jacqueline Mercado]

As I read excerpts from Mao's fiery essay, I was fascinated by the tone of his appeal for the peasant movement, its revolution and by the social turbelence that he is advocating for.  I found it interesting how he uses fiery and loaded language to advocate for a violent revolution by the peasants and which according to him, is a necessity if traditional social structures are to be overthrown and democracy established.  His populist message is clear as he is both trying to mobilize the peasantry and relinquish any dissent of the movement.  He is advocating for a revolution like no other seen or achieved in a thousand years.  His speech is ladened with hyperbole, which matches the kind of revolution he is calling for.  He is in effect, creating a counter extremism to that which he is trying to overthrow by stating that it is the repressive actions of the "local tyrants," "evil gentry," and "lawless landords" that justify such violence.   Through his arguments he is lifting the peasantry to a moral mission of undoing the injustice that the greed of the gentry have caused.  But I wonder if by advocating this kind of uprising in such terms, he is advocating for a lawlessness that might undermine that mission.  This text lends itself to careful analysis of the language used and the kind of propaganda Mao is advocating for.   

[Jacqueline Mercado]

Interesting interpretation of the cartoons from 1941.  It is clear that the focal point of these cartoons is America and that it is depicted in not so flattering a way.  The obvious exaggeration of America is meant to portray an Anti-American sentiment and to move people to take action against it to control its power and greed.  At first glance, I thought these cartoons were funny, but to a more trained eye and mind, as those of a history teacher, there is much meaning and depth underneath the exaggeration, hyperbole and distortion.  As I think about these cartoons and their technique, I also think about what an effective teaching tool these cartoons are.  Not only might these grab students' attention and engagement, but the humor also can facilitate learning for struggling learners and can be a great way for these students to access content and develop critical thinking skills as they learn to go beyond the surface and analyze the message, the power of imagery, symbols, irony, analogies and stereotypes. Through the use of cartoons students can learn how to look at detail and nuance and go deeper and explore how all of these elements interact to persuade, motivate and move to action.  This strategy would be particularly good for struggling and visual learners and for those students who are more artistically inclined.  Students can be placed in groups to uncover meaning by looking at all the elements mentioned above and have them create their own political cartoons.

[Jacqueline Mercado]

During the lecture, Professor Dube discussed the hukou system and how this household registration system shapes the lives of the Chinese people and how it is tied to the education system.  I did not realize the actual ramifications of this system until I watched a report on PBS telling of the plight of many ethnic minorities in rural areas in China.   Since China ended the one child policy in 2015, a lot of these families have been having more than one child and now find themselves in a difficult situation because of the hukou system, which  ties these children to the place of their birth, where they are allowed to get free education and health care, but offers very little opportunities by way of jobs.  Because of China's economic boom, many manufacturing jobs are opening in cities and so the parents have no choice but to migrate to these cities for these jobs, which pay very little, but is their only option.  Their plight is in the fact that while they have to move, the children are bound to the rural areas where they were born because of the household registration system, which grants them a free education and healthcare in the place of their birth.   It is sad that the family unit is broken as the parents move to the cities and their children are left behind in their poor condition in the countryside.  It was touching to hear the parents' and children's perspectives as their family is separated and the children left home alone with grandparents who cannot really care for them properly.  This surely will have dire consequences on the children's adult lives.   It was equally  touching to see how the parents, though illiterate and poor, and despite many obstacles, still hold high aspirations for their children's future. This brought to mind how the plight of these families is similar to many migrant families, who despite hardship, displacement and fragmentation of the family unit, hold hope for a brighter future for their children.   So it seems that despite Xi Jinping's rethoric of a China focused on common prosperity, where no one is left behind, the plight of these families speaks to a different reality.

[Jacqueline Mercado]

 As I read Gilded Age and viewed Lenora Chu's presentation of the educational system in China, I was impressed by the difference in values between the Chinese educational system and that in the US.  That is, while in the US we acknowledge talent, the Chinese educational system stresses effort and the development of resiliency and toughness.  Student are asked to work harder and harder and so are encouraged to develop grit as they are pushed to master more and more skills.  It was interesting for me as an educator to see this cultural difference between the Chinese and US.  It appears that while reforms are on the horizon, the educational system in China fosters competitiveness and the stakes for students is high because it is an exam based system and where you go to school and if you get to go school, determines your future prospects and status.   To your point, the Chinese emphasis on competiveness and mastering of skills is still deeply rooted in its educational system.

[Jacqueline Mercado]

During the course of the lecture, Professor Dube pointed out that we cannot change past events but that the story that is told about those events can change depending on who tells the story and if new information or data dictates revisions.  I thought about this idea of revising history as I read "China's Great Famine: the true story."   I was touched by Yang Jisheng's quest and courage to do just that, to go back to a difficult event in China's history and basically rewrite the narrative as his understanding of that event has evolved.  I thought about the power of propaganda and how the Communist party adeptly used propaganda to shape and control people's ideology to believe that the party and its goal was successful when the truth was that many Chinese were starved to death during the time of the great famine.  Because there are people like Yang who are willing to dig and unearth the truth behind the cheery facade of propaganda, this part of Chinese history  can be retold and the truth made known.  This truth has the power to not only reshape China's history but also form its future.   This is a good lesson to share with students, to encourage them to dig for the truth even when it is hidden and elusive and that history can be revisited and rewritten.

[Jacqueline Mercado]

Indeed, I found the historical encounters activity to be effective in getting me to think more deeply about the issues related to my group. This kind of activity is a strategic way to incorporate multiple learning modalities in any lesson as student can act out their character if they are more theatrical or a visual learner.   As a teacher, I look for ways to include various opportunities for self expression.  As I was looking through the various images posted in this forum of Chinese propaganda posters, it seemed to me that these images can also be combined with this historical encounters activity through which students can be assigned a propaganda poster and they can become the characters in that poster and write a narrative, a speech or act out the scene as historically accurate as their research permits. This activity would be cross curricular as students would focus on historical perspectives of character and also incorporate theater and writing and other learning modalities.  Utilizing visuals or posters with the historical encounters activity could also be an effective learning strategy.

[Jacqueline Mercado]

As I read Gilded Age, Gilded Cage, what stood out to me was the phrase "political change is complicated".  As I read about Bella's experience in school and about her relationship to her parents, and her teachers, what became most apparent to me was that there is this overarching tension between the old and the new.   This tension is apparent in how her parents struggle to create in Bella an independent spirit while worrying that that autonomy will not get her in trouble in school.  We see this in Bella's education, that while there is much competition to achieve and she is being pushed academically, the education system in China seems to be regimented and does not foster self reliance or independent thinking as is evidenced in the script that students are given when running for elections and when Bella falls in line with what her teacher wants her to do.  While her parents want to foster a new independence in Bella that match their middle class status, her education is still rooted in the old way of thinking, very traditional and controlled.  Hence, while Bella's family is experiencing social mobility and improving their economic standing we see that the more traditional ways of thinking are so entrenched in China's educational society and larger society.  We can surmise that Bella and her generation will overcome these old ways of thinking but the reality is that they are being educated within that system.   Will Bella and her peers rise up and demand change in how they are governed or will they find ways to accomodate themselves to  that same system and continue to fall in line?  When I consider Bella's experience in China's educational system, I think of it in terms of this larger political question and within this tension of the old and the new.

[Jacqueline Mercado]

I too was impressed reading about the increasing pressures a child like Bella experiences within the educational system in modern China.  While we do not know the long term negative impacts such a system will have on her, we can sense from this reading that Bella experiences a nostalgia for a simpler life as a child.  She eloquently states, "the teacher wants us to say goodbye to childhoold...I feel a loss".  Through these words we sense she is not happy and feels the anxiety of her parents placing all of their high expectations on her.  That is an unnecessary burden placed on her, but is a reality facing an emerging middle class.  As her parents struggle to enrich her academic experience by adding more and more classes, tutoring and more assignments, they realize they must if they are to secure Bella's future prospects.   This seems to be the price an emerging middle class family pays for social mobility within this new system ripe with opportunities in China.  

[Jacqueline Mercado]

The image portrayed in the card that I chose is of two Chinese peasant women with a red tractor.  The setting is rural and these two women are dressed simply and one is cleaning the tractor while one is pouring water into it.  Along the poster reads the words:  We have great improvements in wide and free areas.  While these two women are not driving the tractor, they are involved in operating it.  They seem very pleased and happy to be involved in this work.   While I was not able to actually find this exact propaganda poster online, I did come across some useful information that might point to the poster's message.  Firts of all, the poster looks very Maoist in its message of happy collaboration and bright colors.  There is an idealized picture of the peasant worker and the tractor represents some kind of modernization, the use of technology in agricultural work.   It seems to point to the female participation in mechanization and how women are active participants in production and operating machinery for the modernization of China.  The women represent participation and the tractor represents economic development and modernization.  This poster probably dates from the 1950's and such images of women working with modern tractors was influenced by posters depicting Soviet women as part of economic production.  Hence this propaganda poster is designed to show a modern China with a new message of mobilizing women to join in economic production.  It seems to be effective in its message.    Sorry, but I could not include the actual image due to technical limitations.

[Jacqueline Mercado]

I found Xu's commentary on America and Americans interesting.  While he points out that Americans love money and profit, he seems to be particularly impressed by the relationship that Americans have to time and money. He aptly states that Americans have a saying that time is money.  He points out that Americans are adept at commerce and know how to capitalize on economic growth by its ingenuity in inventing machines that save time, but also know how to capitalize on time and do not waste time idly.  He depicts Americans as ingenious, industrious and economically savy.  He observes that it is the American self reliant and independent spirit that propels America to such material wealth and that its economic system is great and to be emulated.  It  seems as if he is stating such observations because he feels that the Chinese can emulate such productivity and economic growth.  While the US is ahead of China economically, however, he seems to question its civilized status.   He points out that while the US brags it is a civilized country and ridicules the Chinese as highly superstititous, Americans are just as superstitious. I thought this was a curious point.  Xu Zhengkeng presents a different view of American culture than the one I am accustomed to in this regard.

[Jacqueline Mercado]

Indeed, as we read some of  Zhang Zhidong's ideas of reform, we see that he was concerned with bringing new ideas to China with the goal of reforming and improving China's government but he also points out that the Chinese should be more circumspect and avoid some of the problematic consequences and problems that have arisen in other parts of the world as a result of reform efforts.  This goes with your idea of how if the Chinese can examine those efforts they can avoid some of the same mistakes and not bring those same problems to China.

[Jacqueline Mercado]

 As our group ponders the reforms that need to take place in China at this time, it would be important to consider what reform means.  From my perspective, to reform means to improve a system that already exists and not to implement a radically new system.  From this perspective, one of the challenges our group has to address would be how does change/reform come to China without losing that which is inherently and fundamentally Chinese, the Chinese traditions and way of life.  Reform must take place and it would likely come from foreign Western ideas infiltrating China in order to improve Chinese government, its economic system and educational systems.  How can the people of China launch needed reforms and not lose the essential qualities, politics and cultural way of life that is essentially and traditionally Chinese?  If reform is too foreign and not measured, it would be a challenge to unite people for that reform.  

[Jacqueline Mercado]

I agree with this observation of the film, that it brings to light how the struggle for justice and equality will not end and must continue.  That is one of my take aways from the film.  The fact that these Chinese workers are taking a stand to fight for what is fair is encouraging and we stand with them as they do; however, the reality is that the core issue of economic injustice and inequality is human greed and that is a force much harder to contain and grapple with.  Hence, the struggle and fight for what is right will and must continue just as inequality and injustice will also unfortunately, persist to exist.  

[Jacqueline Mercado]

 "Where there is a problem, there's a solution"--a quote from one of the activists cited in the film. This sentence is simple and yet the film "We the Workers" shows that the carrying out of this truth is not easily realized, and yet the potential is there.  With the emergence of industrialization, the focus has always been on economic growth and development but not enough attention is given to the inequalities and economic disparities that arise when an economy privileges some and disadvantages others.  In this film, a voice is given to the very workers who are being exploited, treated unfairly and who are not benefiting from China's economic miracle.  Their plight is massive as we see when at the beginning of the film, one worker expresses that eventhough workers may have rights by law, those rights are void since laws are not enforced by the government and others in power.  This kind of thinking shows us why it is difficult to organize workers and mobilize them to action as they fear that if they protest against those in power, there will be further loss to them.  Eventhough this is a theme we see thoroughout the movie, it is inspiring to hear from the workers themselves as they fight for equality, no matter how elusive it may be in Communist China.  The fact that there have been some victories is nonetheless, optimistic.  Although this film was specifically about the workers in China, such themes are universal and most of my students can relate to this kind of inequality and these workers' fight for social justice because some of them know of family members who work in factories and who like the workers in China, also are being exploited with low wages and long hours.  These are themes that my students can relate to. 

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