TeachAsia 1998-99 Implementation Plan

SUMMARY:

Participating teachers are engaged in shaping and participating in educational workshops, and are offered the opportunity to utilize the resources provided by the Asia Society and purchased with grant funds. The collaborative will extend support as resources allow to other NC middle schools that request materials and training on Asia.

Provided $16,000 will be utilized for:

Additional activities that reflect a contribution to the TeachAsia Program:

ASSESSMENT:

Our Chapel Hill, North Carolina, collaborative plans to assess the present level of understanding about Asia by administering an Asian awareness pretest to Philips Middle School faculty. An interest survey relating to various topics on Asia will be circulated and responses tabulated. The collaborative will also assess the level of progress made by our staff by administering an end of the project year evaluation and improvement survey.

INSTITUTIONAL RESOURCES AND COMMITMENT:

We realize that the roles and contributions of the collaborative members are essential to achieving our outlined goals. Our collaborative includes the administrators and seventh grade teachers of Guy B. Phillips Middle School, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Teach Asia team members, the wider Triangle community, and the Teach Asia network. All materials and resources acquired from Asia Society and purchased with grant monies will be catalogued and housed in the reference section of the Phillips Media Center. The materials will be available for faculty and staff to use as needed. These materials will be a valuable resource to sustain teacher interest and educational needs throughout the year.

FACULTY:

The primary focus of our program will be the seventh grade teachers at Phillips. We anticipate that all the teachers of Phillips will participate in one, full day, staff development conference focussing on Asian studies. Seventh grade teachers will be offered 1.5 days of specific staff development. Invitation will be open to all the teachers at Phillips and invited experts will address issues such as the science and mathematics curriculum in Asian schools in order to reach beyond the social studies and language arts teachers. We also anticipate that these teachers as well as other teachers in the district will participate in optional inservice Asian learning opportunities and workshops. Pretest and Interest survey will be used to plan additional events for teachers.

ADMINISTRATION:

The team members of the TeachAsia Program will apprise Phillips administration on the program being implemented for the 1998-99 academic year. The administration of Phillips supports the use of staff development time for Asian studies and will encourage staff participation in the achievement of our Teach Asia goals. To reach out beyond Phillips, the Chapel Hill/Carboro Schools Superintendent will also be informed about planned activities and asked to support the involvement of teachers from other local middle schools.

The University Center for International Studies (UCIS) at UNC - Chapel Hill will engage presenters, performers, and aid in educational material development that will enhance our Teach Asia goals during our school workshops. UNC-CH will also be the responsible fiscal agent for the distribution of provided funding. Mr. Leja will provide technological support such as the development of an Internet web site dedicated to the collaborative TeachAsia Program.

RESOURCE ORGANIZATIONS:

UCIS itself, as a National Resource Center in International Studies under the Title VI program of the US Department of Education, provides training workshops for teachers, offers a wealth of international studies faculty experience, provides complex grant management and supports a very active K-12 International Outreach Program.

 

TEACHASIA TEAM MEMBERS:

The TeachAsia team members: Susanna Bryant, Nora Flynn-Miller, JoAnn Ribisi, Elaine Ofenloch representing Phillips Middle School and Bogdan T. Leja representing University of North Carolina, will serve as ambassadors of the TeachAsia program. The team will also be responsible for generating interest in learning about Asia, planning and implementing the inservice workshops, providing access to news media and building the Asian resource library. Finally, we will be a source of support for teachers at Chapel Hill/Carrboro Schools and serve as liaisons with NC Asia resource organizations and community at large.

WIDER COMMUNITY:

We anticipate that the Chapel Hill community will support the Teach Asia program at our school by serving as speakers, cultural arts demonstrators and authentic voices. The local PTA will be informed about our goals for the year and expertise on Asia will be sought out among its members. The Carrboro Arts Center and the International Festival of Raleigh showcase many of the local community organizations that have a strong cultural and historical link to their native countries. The Ackland Art Museum at UNC has a large Asian collection and promotes learning and outreach activities to K-12 schools. Some of these groups will be approached for help in our effort to infuse additional learning about Asian art, dance and customs.

TEACHASIA NETWORK:

We would like the Asia Society and the TeachAsia network to provide us with access to the AskAsia listserve and information on related educational web sites and materials along with collegiality and project funding. In addition, we will continue to work with all the collaborative groups represented in the TeachAsia program, will share information and ask members for help on specific question.

NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION:

Our objectives for the implementation of the Teach Asia project are to increase awareness of Asian studies, enhance our teaching of the seventh grade curriculum and strengthen our community relationships. Our content will focus on three main themes: Diversity, Connections and Change.

Increase of Asian Awareness

Enhancement of Teaching about Asia

All faculty members will attend one full-day staff development workshop by November 11, 1998 that will emphasize the three themes of diversity through the metaphor of the Silk Road. The faculty workshop will begin with an Asian/American breakfast; then speakers will discuss diversity (geography, history, arts and philosophy of Asia). At noon there will be a catered Asian lunch with food presented at teaching stations (Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indian and others). After lunch, teachers will choose jigsaw learning sessions based on their interest in Asian topics.

Seventh grade teachers at Phillips will attend an additional one full day and one half-day staff development session about Asia. These sessions will also be announced and made available to all teachers in the district. These sessions will address the following:

  • Connections- speakers will discuss the History of Trade and the interconnections between Asia and the World. Breakout sessions will include resource sharing and lesson modeling on the Silk Road.
  • Change- speakers will focus on Modern Asia's role in the world. Breakout sessions will include resource sharing and lesson modeling on global economics and trade (ideas, culture, and resources).
  • Teaching Area Study through World History- speakers will present on the intertwined connections that people and cultures have on the Asian continent. Resource sharing, lesson modeling and discussions about the implications for teaching will be offered.

Strengthen Community Ties

  • Presentation to the local PTSA and School Board on September 10, 1998
  • Information on program provided to parents on September 16th, 1998 during "Parent Night". Collaborative will utilize parents with an Asian background as authentic voices
  • Increase the participation of Asian experts and artisans in enhancing the curriculum for our school
  • Encourage additional cooperative connections between UNC-CH, Phillips and our Chapel Hill schools by learning about and making use of vast educational resources available to teachers at UNC.

TIMELINE:

An informative session with the Principal and Assistant Principal at Phillips was held on August 18, 1998. The Chapel-Hill Carrboro Schools Superintendent has been informed about the project, and the administration and teachers of McDougale and Grey Culbreth Middle schools will receive a written outline of events and activities planed for 1998/99 academic year by September 30th, 1999.

Schedule of Activities at Phillips Middle School:

August 24

School Governance Council presentation

Completed

September 10

PTSA presentation

Completed

September 16

Flyers sent home with parents on Parents Night: 
to disseminate info on upcoming events and programs; 
to request parent volunteers for the evaluation committee

Completed

October 13

Faculty presentation with survey

Completed

October 15

Presentation to the School Board

Moved to September

November 11

Asia Expo

Completed

February 15

Full day teacher workshop

Completed

March 12

Half day teacher workshop

Completed

May 27

Global Market Day

Completed

June 15

End of year report

Completed

Additional presentations and events will be provided throughout the year during weekends and select evenings. The aim is to bring students and parents back to the school for programs and performances that have a learning component on Asia.

Planed activities relating to South Asia: September through November 1998

In conjunction with the Carrboro Arts Center, performances of Indian music and dance by Tarun Bhattacharya and Bikram Ghosh are being made available to the collaborative on October 16 of 1998. They are two of the most renowned Indian musicians who perform on the santur, a 100-string hammered dulcimer, and the tabala, a pair of hand drums. A possible additional performance of traditional Indian music can be provided by Krishnamurti Sridhar who is one of today's finest masters of the sarod, a 25-string instrument of great complexity. He would be joined by Monir Hossain on the tabala, two-handed drums. Speakers from the Triangle South Asia Consortium and SANGAM, an Asian students association at UNC, will provide a number of informative sessions; introduction to language, religion, culture and historical Indian dances/plays that involve students and teachers.

Planed activities on East Asia: December through February 1999

An "Anime" film festival will be organized at Phillips and UNC. Teachers, students and parents will be invited to attend. Informative sessions lasting half an hour will be held prior to screening films. Dr. Cong Yuon will provide an introduction to Chinese painting and calligraphy. UNC faculty and students will provide a talk on Chinese culture, historical legacy and current conditions. Dr. Ryuko Kubota, and Dr. Yuki Aratake with support from the Japan Center and the UNC-CH Japan Club will provide a complete introduction to Japan and present ideas for curriculum building during workshop two.

Planned activities on South East Asia: March through May 1999

The collaborative will engage "NC Thai Association", "Vietnamese Association" and "Filipino Group" who are all members of the International Festival of Raleigh for performances and introduction of their native culture. These groups will be paired up with faculty from UNC-CH who will provide an educational workshop for teachers at Phillips. Additional activities and presenters will be engaged during the course of the project.

The "Global Market": May 1999 (sample videotape is available)

Students will be encouraged to develop additional resources and goods that represent Asia throughout the academic year. During the Market, a center stage will be set-up where Phillips students and UNC-CH student groups will perform traditional and modern Asian music and dance. During the Market, participants will be asked to vote and offer suggestions on a project that would provide a lasting representation of the schools experience with TeachAsia. This project could be a mural, a garden, a statue, or an exhibit that represents Asia.

SUSTAINING THE COLLABORATIVE:

UCIS and the Curriculum in Asian Studies will continue to support activities and learning events on Asia outlined and requested by teachers at Phillips and other local middle schools. Fundraising and grants that provide for educational travel, curriculum development and immersion in Asia will be reviewed and filed. Teachers will receive regular updates on speakers, events and conferences that deal with Asia at UNC-CH and NC State University at Raleigh. Additional educational materials will be provided to the Phillips Asia Resource Center as budgets and availability allow.

EVALUATION:

Will be carried out by a steering committee and the members will be informed three times during the academic year on progress made. The Collaborative also will provide a short narrative on the project prior to receiving its allotment of funds from Asia Society.

UNC-CH steering committee consists of:

Dr. Ryuko Kubota, UNC-CH School of Education and a Japan expert,

Dr. Lawrance Kessler, Director Curriculum in Asian Studies at UNC-CH,

Dr. Xue Rong, UNC-CH School of Education and a China expert.

BUDGET:

The Collaborative requests $16,000 of funding for the total project, which is to be provided in three installments to the fiscal agent: University Center for International Studies.