Why Teach Southeast Asia?
In the introduction to the Updated H-SS Framework (10/11/00)
it states that "As educators we have the responsibility of preparing children
for the challenges of living in a fast-changing society. Their lives, like ours,
will be affected by domestic and international politics, economic flux, technological
developments, demographic shifts, and the stress of social change.The only prediction
that can be made with certainty is that the world of the future will be characterized
by continuity and change. The study of continuity and change is, as it happens,
the main focus of the history-social science curriculum."
Now in mid August 2000 census data is showing that here in California
there is an increasing Asian diversity in many communities.
"Having long lived in the sadow cast by larger, more
established Asian-American ethnic groups, East Bay Laotians are coming into
their own. Census numbers show smaller Asian-American groups – in the
past they were call "other Asians" – ballooned by 62 percent
in the last ten years in Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano counties. The number
of all Asians grew by 47 percent in that same period. - West County Times,
August 15,2001
"Hmong make major strides: Their population nearly
triples in Sacramento County In the 1990's, Sacramento grew by 37,653 residents
- and one in five of those newcomers was a Hmong. That's a sizable impact
for an ethnic group that accounts for just 3 percent of the city's 407,000
people.In Sacramento County, the number of Hmong nearly tripled during the
last decade, growing from 5,470 to 16,3999, a spurt far outpacing other California
counties. - The Sacramento Bee, August 16, 2001
An editorial in a recent edition of The Sacramento Bee (August 12, 2001)
titled "California's demographics: Back to the future" states in
part that "The fact that whites are no longer a majority is old hat.
Now we learn that more than one-quarter of California's population is foreign
born – a greater percentage than at any other time since the 1890's.
Nearly 40 percent of the state's residents speak a language other than English
at home. And many people might be surprised to learn that Asians, not Hispannics,
are the fastest growing ethnic group in California."
The question is whether these very real changes in demographic shifts will
be incorporated in any revisions of the History-Social Science Framework.
"California is bound to Southeast Asia by contemporary demographics,
economics and international communications. Of 33 million Californians (2000
census) no less than three million are of Southeast Asian heritage. The cultural
presence of Southeast Asia is everywhere to be noted in California. Languages
such as Hmong in Sacramento and Fresno, Cambodian in Stockton, Vietnamese in
Westminster and Tagalog in Daly City constitute virtual official second languages.
This influence is apparent not only in the great, diverse metropolitan centers
such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, but even more remarkably in inland valley
towns ranging from Redding and Oroville in the north to Visalia and Porterville
in the southern San Joaquin valley." – Eric Crystal
You would think then that the teaching of Asia and Southeast Asia would be
a priority in California, but as was recently reported in the July 2001 issue
of Education Week, American [Californian] students lack even a basic knowledge
of Asia – and of world affairs and cultures in general. “Today, the
American people are dangerously uninformed about Asia,” said James B. Hunt
Jr., the former governor of North Carolina and a co-chairman of the group that
released the report in June. “I don’t believe we can claim to educate
children in America to high standards if their education ignores the important
region of the world that is Asia.”
Even considering the fact that there are 117, 682 Southeast Asian English
Learner students in California schools (Dataquest, 1999-2000 enrollment statistics)
during the three years of mandated world history instruction for California
students, only two standards refer directly to Southeast Asia. Research and
pedagogical practice show that if teachers are disconnected from the home-family-community
identities and contexts of the students they teach, especially those who are
immigrants, then they can neither reach them in meaningful ways, nor tap their
rich, sociocultural knowledge to share with others in the classroom (Kiang,
1997; Trueba, Rodriguez, Zou and Cintron, 1993). Unfortunately, most educators
in California have had little exposure to authentic Asian and Asian American
perspectives through their formal education and professional development. Without
opportunities for focused study, their awareness and knowledge base in these
areas are typically constrained by media images and personal experience. This
is a serious limitation given the power and pervasiveness of stereotypes of
Southeast Asians and Asian Americans in mass media as well as in school textbooks
and children’s literature produced in the United States (The Children are
Watching, How the Media Teaches about Diversity, Cortes, 2000)
The extensive nature of the problem requires long-term solutions and real investment
in change. The fast pace of globalization lends urgency to the need for change.
Although many schools teach about Asia, although rarely about Southeast Asia,
much of what passes for legitimate curricula and resources on Asia is outdated
and often superficial, or even worse, distorted or inaccurate. Teachers often
work hard to incorporate Asia-related content in the classroom, but most do
so without adequate background or opportunities to upgrade their knowledge through
professional development and often without the benefit of quality instructional
materials.
The challenge then is to look closely at
California's History-Social Science Framework and see where teachers can
squeeze in the the teaching of Southeast Asia.