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. Pasadena, California During the Summer of 1997 she participated in the Keizai Koho Center Fellowship to Japan. 38 EDUCATION ABOUT ASIA Volume 4, Number 1 Spring 1999 RESOURCES ESSAYS slow motion into varyingly tex- cakes at festival time. Students Students also throw the I Ching, reorder tured and subtly colored bowls, listen to a fairy tale associated taste green tea, and meditate with the festival and celebrate their rooms according to Feng Shui, eat quietly for one hour, perhaps the occasion by eating moon their most tranquil hour of the cakes. moon cakes, kick and flail in Tae Kwon Do, entire school year. In studying Daoism, stu- center their bodies in Tai Chi, speak some Students also throw the I dents search the Web for infor- Ching, reorder their rooms mation about Tai Chi. They Chinese, Japanese and Korean, and wield according to Feng Shui, eat come to understand how the moon cakes, kick and flail in Chinese for thousands of years their brushes in bold strokes for calligraphy. Tae Kwon Do, center their bod- have ritualized certain move- ies in Tai Chi, speak some Chi- ments that are associated with house. As students experience Day shows young Korean nese, Japanese and Korean, and good health and peace of mind. the ritual created by the six- Americans dancing the fan and wield their brushes in bold The class views a Tai Chi video, teenth-century Zen priest, drum dances to the sounds of strokes for calligraphy. Nothing practices the movements, and Sen no Riky† , they witness the traditional music. is merely cerebral. All types of evaluates the experience. After benefits of quiet meditation. In The class scans the Web for learners are engaged. Weekly reading about oracle bones and the process, they acquire a information about Tae Kwon journals invite students to the evolution of Chinese charac- greater awareness of Japanese Do and learns that this martial reflect on the impact of Asia on ters, students quickly compre- aesthetics and etiquette. To art is not only a superior form of their lives. hend the complexity of the provide all students with oppor- self-defense, but a discipline of For the first nine weeks of Chinese written language and tunities to become familiar with the mind. Following a demon- the semester, students explore the discipline involved as they Japanese art and architecture, stration of Tae Kwon Do by the history of China. As they try their hands at the art of cal- photographs are scanned into local young people, the class study this ancient culture, they ligraphy. A discussion follows the computer. Class sets are cre- attempts its sharp, angular, and discover that at least 3,000 as to how Confucian respect for ated with a color laser printer so free-flowing circular move- years ago peasants developed learning and authority, together that each student can follow a ments. Students then read about Feng Shui, the practice of with the diligence necessary lecture that includes information p’ansori and watch the award- arranging one’s life in harmony to master thousands of Chinese on landscape painting, wood- winning film, Sop’yonje. At with the forces of the universe. characters, contributes to aca- block prints, Buddhist temples, the end of the semester the In the process, they encounter demic excellence. and Shint¬ shrines. class reads a Korea Society’s the I Ching, Chi, the five ele- Leaving China, the class On the Internet, students first-prize student essay on the ments, Daoism, yin and yang, focuses on Japan for five discover that in ancient times a topic of reunification. After and ancestor worship. weeks. Students are reminded party became more lively examining this issue, each Each student is given an of what they just learned as they when someone started singing member of the class completes opportunity to design a room, a examine the historical and cul- and others kept time with hand- research on Korea and submits house, or a garden according to tural influences of China on clapping. It mattered little an essay for this national the ancient principles of Feng Japan. As they read from Edwin whether a person sang well. Out contest. Shui. They learn that this art is O. Reischauer’s The Japanese of this tradition the popular A final component of the now widely practiced through- Today: Change and Continuity, contemporary entertainment Asian studies course comprises out the world and continues to they discover the uniqueness of karaoke was born. We then individual and group projects influence architecture, interior and adaptability of Japanese listen to a tape, and volunteers that provide opportunities for design, and even real estate culture together with the rea- step up to perform. learners who do not have strong transactions. This year each stu- sons why the Japanese and their During the final weeks of linguistic abilities. This year, for dent spent part of a weekend neighbors in East Asia may the semester the focus is Korea. example, one student is demon- rearranging furniture, removing have the most deeply ingrained A poignant twentieth-century strating the Chinese zither; clutter, and drawing up a new work ethic in the world. Using novel, The Year of Impossible another is role playing various floor plan to bring change into up-to-date information about Goodbyes, by Sook Nyul Choi, Chinese characters, such as a their lives and to enhance the Japan from the Tora no Maki reveals the heartbreaking plight member of the Red Guards dur- positive forces of Chi. series (see bibliography), stu- of families at the end of World ing the Cultural Revolution; a When the Yuan dynasty dents learn about the Japanese War II when the present unre- third is viewing a number of (1280–1368) is studied, the family, educational excellence, solved situation arose. The class Gong Li films. class hears the folk legend that technological innovation, and discovers Korean influences on At the end of the semester, autumn moon cakes were used evolving business practices that Japanese culture. The country’s students have greater knowl- to overthrow the foreign Mon- result from global challenges history, art, and architecture edge and respect for three gols of the Yuan dynasty. The and recent economic difficul- are imparted through a video, ancient Asian cultures which are plans for the revolution against ties. Discovering the Art of Korea. emerging into the complexity Kublai Khan’s descendants A Zen Buddhist monk trans- Another video of a local cele- and flux of the postmodern were hidden inside the moon forms the classroom into a tea bration of Korean Independence world. 39 RESOURCES ESSAYS Asian Culture in the Classroom APPENDIX I Visual/Spatial SUGGESTIONS FOR CLASS INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS : n Research Chinese landscape paintings. Complete a painting ACTIVITIES according to the principles employed by traditional artists. 1. Write responses to the following films: To Live , Shall We Dance Study Chinese porcelain. If you are taking a class in ceramics, and Sop’yonje. n develop a project that demonstrates knowledge of this art. 2. Participate in a field trip to the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. Create a three-dimensional map of China, Japan, or Korea. A docent tour introduces you to the Chinese, Japanese, and n Korean art collections, Chinese architecture and a Chinese Bodily/Kinesthetic garden. INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS : 3. Tour a traditional Japanese house, Zen Buddhist garden and an Study Bonsai. View the Bonsai plants at the Huntington Gardens extensive Bonsai collection at the Huntington Library and Gar - and consult an expert. Purchase a Bonsai and care for it from dens in San Marino, California. September until December. Bring the Bonsai to class and share 4. Read a booklet from the Korean Heritage Series . Individuals will knowledge. share information in brief presentations to the class.