Teaching Asian America in Elementary Classrooms

Description

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. | Teaching Asian America in Elementary Classrooms