Teaching Asian America In Elementary Classrooms

This book sets out to amend the superficial treatment of Asian America histories in U.S. textbooks and curriculum by providing elementary teachers with a more nuanced, thematically driven account.

Asian American voices and experiences are largely absent from elementary curricula. Asian Americans are an extraordinarily diverse group of people, yet are often viewed through stereotypical lenses: as Chinese or Japanese only, as recent immigrants who do not speak English, as exotic foreigners, or as a “model minority” who do well in school. This fundamental misperception of who Asian Americans are begins with young learners―often from what they learn, or do not learn, in school. This book sets out to amend the superficial treatment of Asian American histories in U.S. textbooks and curriculum by providing elementary teachers with a more nuanced, thematically driven account. In chapters focusing on the complexity of Asian American identity, major moments in Asian immigration, war and displacement, issues of citizenship, and Asian American activism, the authors include suggestions across content areas for guided class discussions, ideas for broader units, and recommendations for children’s literature as well as primary sources.

This innovative volume offers the first sustained examination of the myriad ways Asian American Studies is taught at the university level. Through this lens, this volume illuminates key debates in U.S. society about pedagogy, multiculturalism, diversity, racial and ethnic identities, and communities formed on these bases. Asian American Studies shares critical concerns with other innovative fields that query representation, positionality, voice, and authority in the classroom as well as in the larger society. Acknowledging these issues, twenty-one distinguished contributors illustrate how disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to Asian American Studies can be utilized to make teaching and learning about diversity more effective. Teaching Asian America thus offers new and exciting insights about the state of ethnic studies and about the challenges of pluralism that face us as we move into the twenty-first century.

This book tells the stories of South Asian Americans in K-12 schools, through a look at their perceptions, experiences, and support needs in school, especially in context of teacher cultural proficiency and belief in “the model minority myth” (the perception of Asians as the perfect minority). This book mixes stories, quotes, and anecdotes with quantitative research in order to paint a multifaceted picture of the varied and complex experiences of Asian Americans in schools. The book examines existing scholarly and popular literature to offer deeper context, and to provide guidance for how educators, policymakers, and the community might improve experiences for South Asian American, and all students, in increasingly diverse schools.

Teaching about Asian Pacific Americans was created for educators and other practitioners who want to use interactive activities, assignments, and strategies in their classrooms or workshops. Experts in the field of Asian American Studies will find powerful, innovative teaching activities that clearly convey established and new ideas. The activities in this book have been used effectively in workshops for staff and practitioners in student services programs, community-based organizations, teacher training programs, social service agencies, and diversity training.

The contributions to The Asian American Educational experience examine the most significant issues and concerns in the education of Asian Americans. Contributors, all leading experts in their fields, provide theoretical discussions, practical insights and recommendations, historical perspectives and an analytical context for the many issues crucial to the education of this diverse population--controversies in higher education over alleged admissions quotas, stereotypes of Asian American students as "whiz kids", Asian Americans as the "model minority", bilingual education, education of refugee and immigrant populations, educational quality and equity. Special emphasis is given to both the historic debates which have shaped the field, and the concerns and challenges facing educators of Asian American students at both the K-12 and university level.

Transform How You Teach Asian American Narratives in your Schools! In Teaching the Invisible Race, anti-bias and anti-racist educator and researcher Tony DelaRosa (he, siya) delivers an insightful and hands-on treatment of how to embody a pro-Asian American lens in your classroom while combating anti-Asian hate in your school. The author offers stories, case studies, research, and frameworks that will help you build the knowledge, mindset, and skills you need to teach Asian-American history and stories in your curriculum. You’ll learn to embrace Asian American joy and a pro-Asian American lens—as opposed to a deficit lens—that is inclusive of Brown and Southeast Asian American perspectives and disability narratives. You’ll also find: Self-interrogation exercises regarding major Asian American concepts and social movements Ways to center Asian Americans in your classroom and your school Information about how white supremacy and anti-Blackness manifest in relation to Asian America, both internally and externally An essential resource for educators, school administrators, and K-12 school leaders, Teaching the Invisible Race will also earn a place in the hands of parents, families, and community members with an interest in advancing social justice in the Asian American context.