Asian Culture in the Classroom APPENDIX I Visual/Spatial SUGGESTIONS for CLASS INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS : N Research Chinese Landscape Paintings
RESOURCES ESSAYS Asian Culture A page from in the Mary Connor’s Classroom Asian Studies Class By Mary Connor Scrapbook teach a senior elective in Chinese New Year, February, Asian Studies at Westridge 1999, Westridge School. School, an independent Mary Connor (center, right) I with Asian Culture Club school in Pasadena, California. Members and Lion Dancers My objective is to provide a solid foundation for appreciat- ing the distinctive histories and cultures of China, Japan and Korea, their interrelationships and commonalities. To secure respect for Asian societies, opportunities are created for students to experience the Chi- Chinese New nese, Japanese, and Korean cul- Year Celebration. tures within and outside of the Sisters playing classroom (see appendix 1). In the Butterfly order to be as creative as possi- Harp and Zither ble and to offer different options Chinese New Year Celebration for students of varied abilities, I with Dragon dancers and have adapted Howard Gardner’s Tai chi Instructor theory of multiple intelligences to group and individual projects (see appendix 2). In this secondary-level Asian studies course, each lec- ture or reading assignment has a component element of personal engagement. Students are asked Students participating in to respond sensually, physically, Japanese tea ceremony. and emotionally to what they learn. After reading segments of Kakuz¬ Okakura’s The Book of Asian Studies Class at the Japanese Tea, for example, they do the Gardens, Huntington Library and Zen Buddhist tea ceremony. Gardens, San Marino, California They smell incense, feel the weave of tatami mats, endure the discomfort of kneeling dur- ing an entire class period, see a shaven monk pour hot liquid in MARY CONNOR, a high school teacher of Asian Studies and Advanced Placement United States History, has been published in Asian Studies Class Social Education and Social Studies field trip to the Review and has spoken at NCSS Pacific Asia Museum, Conferences for the past four years.
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