[Khrystle San Diego]

I am thankful to have been given this opportunity to participate in this seminar because it allowed me to know more about East Asian countries and their histories. Prior to teaching students with special needs, I was teaching middle and high school history. Joining this seminar allowed me to rekindle my love for history and increase my knowledge about East Asian countries. I am Asian and although I knew much about my ancestors, this class allowed me to research more about the impact of Asian historical figures and events on the organization of these countries today. 

 

We have covered so much about East Asian countries in six sessions, but the overarching focus of Professor Dube’s lectures were based on how we could bring the world closer to our students. Honestly, that question challenged me quite a lot because my students are unfamiliar with the history of the United States - much more countries that they do not necessarily hear about at home. Especially because most of my students are from lower income homes, the most they are exposed to Asian countries are through quick snacks such as instant ramen, television shows that are dubbed anime, and most recently, the K-Pop influence on social media. 

 

I plan to focus on the things that the East Asian countries and the United States have in common so that the students can relate to the experiences the Asian people experienced. If we start off on commonlities between the nations, we can open up the discussion about differences amongst these various cultures with enthusiasm. Because I was given the information about East Asian countries, I feel that I have become more confident in bridging these different cultures and integrating them in our curriculum. 

 

As a teacher, we should promote our students to become more responsible global and digital citizens. Our main focus as teachers should encourage students to view different other cultures with respect. This is especially important in this society because of the recent events in our country. We should promote diversity and inclusion across all aspects of our class. 

 

[Khrystle San Diego]

Serece, I think your idea of showing similar charts with China's history of government in comparison to the United States government would be helpful in setting up the discussion with your student. I think to take this one step further, you can have your students write descriptions of the different parts of the hierarchy. I would use a graphic organizer with boxes so that the students who are more visual can draw their interpretation of the different parts of the government that will help them remember the importance or impact it made. 

[Khrystle San Diego]

Tara, both Nationalists and Communists wanted to unify China, but had varying views on how to do so. Since you teach art, I think it would be helpful to look up propoganda during this time and have students vote and discuss which party would be more successful in gaining control and "unifying" China. After a discussion, then you can reveal to the students that the Communist party actually gained control over the government. You can also do some inferencing activities with the students and ask them what they think would have happened if the Nationalists got control instead. 

[Khrystle San Diego]

Lizbeth, unfortunately, you're right. Women in Japan have a more difficult time becoming independent in the workplace while also beginning a family. It's so unfair for women because they have to choose which they will prioritize more, which will then affect their relationship with both. On my most recent visit to Japan, I noticed that many of the retail shops employed women. That could be definitive of the fact that when you work retail, the shop is only open for a designated amount of time. Maybe this allows them to also manage their home lives. 

[Khrystle San Diego]

Thomas, I think it's important that you brought that information to our discussion. The percentage of females occupying higher positions in companies are low in Japan, China, and South Korea (I think) are definitely a result of these views on women from Confucian values. Being a Filipina, I have seen that many women do take on leadership roles in the Philippines. Though Filipina women do put importance in submission to elders and husbands, I think it's more along the fact that they are a very religious country and generally submit to biblical beliefs. Even if this is so, I've noticed that Filipinos do respect women in government or higher positions. They have already had two women presidents in the past 50 years which is quite important to note in comparison to the United States who has yet to have a women president. 

[Khrystle San Diego]

Betsy, I also found it quite interesting that there are so many people in Korea that identify as Christians as a result of the western missionaries. You bring up the point of "proselytizing." I think that the Western Missionaries did participate in proselytizing, but because it was hidden under the guise of providing care and education. Because they were so kind and welcoming to the Korean people, they were able to take that opportunity to impart their ideologies to them, resulting in a large growth of Christians in Korea. 

[Khrystle San Diego]

Thomas, the debate between the merits of advanced medicine and education would be interesting to have in the classroom. I think another addition to that activity would to assign roles to your students. For example, one group would be the missionaries while the others would be the Korean citizens. They can then provide pros and cons for medicine and knowledge in the point of views of the missionaires or the citizens. It would allow them to have a deeper understanding of each view. 

[Khrystle San Diego]

I found this Ukyio-e which illustrates three women (two older and one younger) creating paper dolls. This was created in 1901 by an artist named Shuntei. The art piece is titled Kami ningyo (paper dolls) from Kodomo asobi (Children's play). 

I find this woodblock print interesting because it shows the characters actually playing or having fun in a natural setting of a home or school. I also am noticing that there are different colors used here like blue, pink, orange, red, purple, green, and black. This would be a good image to bring into the classroom because it shows an activity that they younger students can relate with. 
https://www.harashobo.com/english/ukiyoe_detail.php?print_id=29062

[Khrystle San Diego]

Susie, you are so right. Many of our history books only show the positive effects of the treaties we make with other countries. For the activity you mentioned above, maybe you can have your students on separate sides of the room and defend or argue against the treaty. For example, one side can be China, and the other can be any of the foreign imperialist powers of the time (Great Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Russian, and Japan). They need to support why the treaty works in their favor or the opposite. 

[Khrystle San Diego]

Tara, I think one way of addressing unequal treaties with the younger elementary students is to roleplay having a list of differenet set of rules for each student. If your students aren't able to read yet, you can use pictures of things they can and cannot do. The students can compare their rule sets and see that maybe one of their friends is able to play on the playground while everyone else is not allowed to go there. By comparing, they will see that they have unfair rules and that will open up the discussion about the unfair treaties and how it affected the Chinese. 

[Khrystle San Diego]

Zoe, the study of family dynamics for the younger students can be a little bit difficult for them to understand, but I believe if you make it "kid friendly" by using shows or cartoon characters they are familiar with they can see the social tensions. For example, if you use the example of Mickey Mouse and his friends in the "Clubhouse" and then bring in another character who disregards the rules and makes a mess. Though it is quite a different situation than 19th century China, I think it would be a great starting point to bring in the context and pique their interest.

[Khrystle San Diego]

Ester, I suggest also integrating the website "Newsela" in your class. There are a lot of articles that discuss water scarcity. You can differentiate the articles to accommodate your students' various levels. You can also bring up the fact that our water is not locally sourced. Students are often shocked when they see that our water is brought in from farther away in California.

[Khrystle San Diego]

Donna, the importance of being a global citizen is so important especially after what has been going in in our country in response to recent events this year. It is true that many times, our students can be wasteful - especially with food. 

Asian cultures put a big emphasis on the elders in families. Oftentimes, many households consist of three generations (grandparents, parents, children). My family is one of them. We put importance in taking care of my grandparents by providing for them. We definitely are family oriented. It's a bit disheartening that US culture is very individualistic, but it's interesting because many immigrants to the US come from Asian countries (mainly China, India, and the Philippines). Along with them, they bring Asian ideas on a family dynamic.

[Khrystle San Diego]

Betsy, I emphasize the "setting" or "places of origin" of all the texts I bring into the classroom. It is quite shocking to know that many of our students are unfamiliar to geography of other parts of the world. To integrate Asian geography in your class, in addition to undersanding the context and environment of organisms, students can identify different organisms in Asia and where they can be found. You can also have them find out different traits they have or how they adapt to their environment.

[Khrystle San Diego]

Brigid, I think that it is imperative for students to keep up with current events. Sometimes they are so disconnected with the "real world" around them and simply focus on the lives of YouTubers or other social media influencers they see on their most used phone apps. I wonder if you have used the news app "Newsela" in your classroom. It provides differentiated articles for students. For example, the articles of a specific topic are similar in main ideas and facts. The differences are the word count/level of vocabulary. When we were really experiencing the water scarcity in Los Angeles, I believe they had a myriad of articles that discussed conservation and the effects of polution. You could relate all of these issues to the water scarcity in Korea and China by showing them realia about the Los Angeles River (or even what's left of it) and how we are getting our sources of water. If they see that the water we use is actually being brought in from the Kern County/Mojave Desert area, you can relate that to the water issues that North and South Korea experienced as well. 

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