Final Report:

Activities associated with the Asia Society, "TeachAsia" Project.

According to the original grant proposal for the Phillips-UNC collaborative in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the objectives for the 1998-1999 school year for the Teach Asia grant were to:

1) Increase Asian Awareness

2) Enhance Teaching about Asia

3) Strengthen Community Ties

Our first goal measured Asian awareness among Phillips faculty.

In order to better understanding gains made this year, we surveyed the staff on their background in Asian studies (general knowledge and previous college or university level course work). We found that 68% of our staff had no past experience with Asian-related course work. While 18% of our staff reported taking a course in world history, only 6.8% responded that they had experience in Chinese history. Additionally, we surveyed the staff concerning perceived student demographics. 48% of the faculty reported that they didn't know the percentage of our Asian student population. Roughly 20% of our staff responded that there was between 7-10% Asian student population which reflects the actual 8.4% of Phillips students who are Asian. We also used the survey to gauge interest in Asian-specific topics for future staff development. The results of this survey were presented to the faculty on October 13, 1998. In May, we will conduct a similar survey that will measure the year's gains.

Our second goal Enhanced Teaching about Asia:

On October 15, 1998, in conjunction with the Carrboro Arts Center, Bikram Ghosh and Tarun Battacharya, renowned Indian musicians performed for teachers and students at Phillips Middle School. Students and teachers were able to hear several selections of Indian santur and tabla music, as well as ask questions of the musicians. The presentation was very well received.

On November 11, 1998, Teach Asia team provided five hours, or .5 continuing education credits, of Asian-related studies to sixty five teachers, three administrators and four teacher assistants. The goal was to provide an overview of Asian studies. Phillips faculty met for a lecture on Asian anthropology, geography, and politics presented by Prof. James Peacock, Prof. Melinda Meade, and Prof. Jim Hevia, all professors from the University of North Carolina (UNC). Faculty then participated in a cultural presentation of Indian and Vietnamese dancing, and Tai Chi Martial Arts. Faculty were able to discuss ethnicity issues with diverse Asian speakers from Nepal, Japan, and India. A catered lunch menu reflected cuisine from China, Japan, India and Korea. In the afternoon, teachers were able to choose from workshops on such issues as Asian art, the teaching of math and science in Japan, Asian literature, and Tai-Chi and Asian martial arts. A number of exhibit tables provided information sources, hands on objects, arts and crafts from Asia. Evaluation forms completed by Phillips faculty indicated that the day was an overwhelming success.

In January 1999, Faculty at Phillips Middle School began reading proverbs from around the world to the students and staff over morning announcements. In order to expand Asian awareness, a large number of Asian proverbs are included. Teachers have been encouraged to include these proverbs into teaching and advisory periods. Many of our classrooms have a wall or an area dedicated to Asian art, pictures, books and materials. Students participate in learning about Asia through hands-on activities. One of the more interesting items in Susanna Bryant's classroom is an origami garden made by one of the students.

On February 15, 1999 the TeachAsia team provided five hours of Asian-related studies to 64 faculty members of Phillips Middle School. The goal was to provide an overview of East Asian studies. In the morning, participants were given a choice of attending one of two workshops. Option A workshop was an East Asian Religious Studies seminar focusing on Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism and Shintoism. The seminar was led by Professor Richard Jaffe from North Carolina State University and Talat Hallman of Duke University. Option B was a technology workshop focusing on the LEARN NC educational website and Asian related Internet classroom instructional resources.

Presenters were Bob Hobgood of UNC-Chapel Hill and Bogdan Leja, Director of Outreach Programs at UCIS. The participants were then brought together to enjoy a musical performance of Shinto Festival music presented by David Fish of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian College. Afterwards, all participants were provided with an Asian buffet lunch. After lunch, faculty members were invited to attend a workshop entitled "Teaching About East Asia in the Middle Grades" presented by Nancy Kindem of McDougle Middle School, Chapel Hill, N.C. The workshop highlighted geographical and cultural aspects of East Asia. Participants received a videotape and instructional guide to use in the classroom. Six teachers from other Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools also attended this workshop. Evaluation forms completed by Phillips faculty indicated that the day was educational and entertaining.

 

On March 12, 1999 the TeachAsia team presented a four-hour workshop focused on Southeast Asia. On this optional teacher workday, eleven members of the Phillips faculty participated in this workshop, as well as eight members of the Chapel Hill community. Professor Tony Day from UNC-CH spoke about the cultural and geographic concerns of Indonesia, particularly Bali. Dr. Afroz Taj and John Caldwell presented a workshop entitled “India and Pakistan: 1947 and its Aftermath”. The audience was particularly interested in this timely discussion on India-Pakistani relations and explored eagerly the root causes of the conflict. The workshop also included a Northern Indian dance presentation, as well as Professor Sarah Weiss, UNC-CH music anthropologist, who spoke informally with faculty about music and drama in Balinese society. The day was very successful. All of the faculty and community members present expressed appreciation for the workshop. We were particularly impressed with the inclusion of the outside community in our workshop and felt rejuvenated as a collaborative.

 

On May 27, 1999 our TeachAsia collaborative celebrated the end of the school year with the Global Market. This event involved the entire school. Seventh grade students made craft items such as Asian proverb bookmarks, watercolor fans, silk handbags and Arabic mosaic tiles which were sold at the Market along with student prepared Asian foods. Demonstrations included Tai Chi, Indian Mehendi, Indian dance and South East Asian shadow puppetry. The seventh graders who participated in the Global Market had a full school year of learning and preparation, creating crafts at the end of each unit. This celebration involved not only the school, but also students' parents who served as market sellers and demonstrators, local artists who shared their expertise, and many guests from the surrounding community.

 

Our third goal Strengthened Community Ties:

Susanna Bryant (Teach Asia team) made a presentation on August 24, 1998 to the Phillips Middle School School Governance Committee. Her goal was to inform the committee of Teach Asia goals and objectives, and to gain support. While our original plan stated that the TeachAsia team would meet with the Parent, Teacher, Student Association (PTSA) and with the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board, it was decided that the PTSA could better disseminate Teach Asia grant proposal information through its monthly newsletter. The newsletter was sent out to all Phillips parents in mid-September 1998. We spoke with Superintendent Neil Pedersen regarding a board presentation. It was agreed that the TeachAsia team should present results of the grant program in June 1999. We are also fulfilling this goal by utilizing the UNC Outreach Program as a source of community contacts to serve as speakers for staff development and classroom resources. In addition, parents of students at Phillips were involved in the "Global Market" and our South Asia workshop. We have received donations to the outreach program of Asian style clothing, arts and crafts and on a number of occasions, parents provided and made traditional Asian food, which the teachers and students enjoyed immensely.

 

In evaluating our Teach Asia collaborative, we feel that our strengths are:

 

For 1999-2000 we would like to:

As a whole, the UNC-CH/Phillips collaborative team feel very positive and pleased with the TeachAsia Program. We relished the intellectual stimulation and were gratified by the respect given to us as educators in planning, developing, and participating in staff development that was interesting, enjoyable, and informative. We feel thankful that we were given the opportunity to meet and begin our collaborative in Oregon. Those two weeks helped us to interact with each other in a way that would have been difficult in Chapel Hill. Finally, this experience allowed us to explore different roles as educators. We became policy makers, curriculum coordinators, staff development planners, and community liaisons. Most importantly, we greatly expanded our own knowledge of Asia and have all developed an insatiable interest in Asian Studies.

In order to enhance teaching about Asia, we have created a special teacher resource area in the Phillips Media Center. All appropriate Asian-related curricular materials provided and purchased to date have been cataloged, and teachers are using the resources regularly. The TeachAsia team meets periodically to plan for the purchase of new materials. Plans have been made for future staff development days to include specific teaching strategies for Asian studies. Teachers have also used the Asian proverbs as a "springboard" for curriculum study and cross-cultural comparisons. Also the Teach Asia staff has relayed information on numerous educational and cultural events in the community and at our local universities to the faculty and staff at Phillips Middle School. Lastly, Bogdan Leja, Director of Outreach at UCIS, has created a web site at http://metalab.unc.edu/ucis/btl4/events/slot7/teachasia.html that includes links to educational web sites, updates on current programs, and additional information about the Teach Asia grant to all interested parties. Information on upcoming activities is emailed via a listserve to all social studies teachers in the Carrboro/Chapel Hill school district.

To summarize, we feel that our collaborative successfully met our three goals which were to increase Asian awareness, enhance teaching about Asia, and strengthen community ties. During two and one-half days over the course of 1998-1999, we sponsored 20 hours of staff development focusing on Asian Studies. 73 out of 74 staff members voluntarily participated and gave us very positive feedback (which is unusual for staff development evaluations!). We have established a strong collaborative relationship with Bogdan Leja, UCIS, and UNC-Chapel Hill. Consequently, our ties with the community have been strengthened due in large part to our website maintained by UNC-CH and Bogdan Leja.

 

Planned TeachAsia goals which were not finalized in our 1998/99 academic year include the Japanese Animation Film Festival which was to take place in conjunction with the Global Market. Collaborative members were overwhelmed with year end activities and planning the Global Market and did not have enough time to select and review films for content appropriate for a middle school. In addition, holding the festival on the same day as the Global Market would have split our audience and take away resources from planned activities. Therefore we have decided to work in conjunction with the Japan Center and the Curriculum in Asian Studies to set up a film festival on Asia in the fall of 1999. The films would be mostly for teachers and parents. A select number of anime films that can be shown in the schools will be provided to Phillips students. The cataloging of materials purchased with TeachAsia funds for the resource center at Phillips have been slowed to a standstill since Phillips is upgrading its database software which the librarian uses for cataloging. All materials purchased to date are located in the Phillips library, and cataloged items are in an area which is identified by the TeachAsia sign and a beautiful picture purchased from a famous Chinese artist who excels in paper cutting hangs over the resource collection.

Two teachers from our collaborative applied for the Fulbright Hays Seminars Abroad Program and chose countries in Asia as their destinations. Both applications were not accepted for this years final participant list and we will work together to write a proposal to the Fulbright Hays Projects Abroad Program to take a select group of teachers either to Japan or Vietnam in the summer of 2000.

We also have reached consensus on having a Chinese or Japanese stone garden lantern as the official outdoor marker which will identify Phillips Middle School as a TeachAsia site. A plaque will be attached to the lantern and it is hoped that school administration will light the lantern on special dates that commemorate Asian history and festivals. The purchase of the lantern will be from the materials budget and we are in the process of identifying a quality lantern for purchase.

UNC-CH participation and program management. Departments on campus and organizations with strong Asia ties off campus have been informed of the collaborative and its goals early in the academic year. The University Center for International Studies (UCIS) and its staff are very proactive in advertising opportunities for additional funds and educational travel that would support "TeachAsia" goals. We have also met with the key teachers at Phillips and provided a number of informative sessions on how this grant is structured, its accounting, expenditure and reporting needs.

To aid the expenditure process, Phillips teachers were provided special billing forms developed by Administrative Manager Sharon Glover. A reporting structure for all material purchases is established and access to accounts with food and book vendors has been provided.

Budget:

As of June 17, 1999 the collaborative has expended a total of $19,668 of UNC-CH matching funds and $12,049 of Asia Society funds. This reflects invoices processed and money paid and includes outstanding purchases and invoices that have been processed for purchase todate.

We are asking for three (3) month extension on our TeachAsia budget until September 31, 1999. This will provide ample time for orders to be processed, additional purchases of educational materials and a final accounting. As our budget is based on a number of categories which are linked to event dates, we would like to have permission to consolidate outstanding categories which represent a surplus (except the Miscellaneous Full Year Usage Account# 5-49597) into the educational materials account #5-49598. As example: Account #549596 which represents "Presentations at NC Social Studies Teachers Conference, February, 1999" has a remainder of $720.13 from a total earmarked of $840. We want permission to move the $720.23 into the Educational Materials Account. This would apply for other surplus categories. Based on current accounts we would like to continue the balance of to September 31, 1999. For a complete breakdown, see attached budget.

Budget Outlined: Based on June 11, 1999 reconciliation.

Current Accounts

Asia Society Grant Provided

TeachAsia Expended

Estimated Balance

Revision Change

Revised Budget

#5-49592

$2,280.00

$2,038.43

$241.57

-$241.57

$0

#5-495923

$2,350.00

$2,185.56

$164.44

-$164.44

$0

#5-49594

$1,250.00

$897.80

$352.20

-$352.20

$0

#5-49595

$1,350.00

$1,485.96

($-135.96)

+($-135.96)

$0

#5-49596

$840.00

$119.87

$720.13

-$720.13

$0

#5-49597

$2,568.00

$840.00

$1,728

$0

$1,728

#5-49598

$5,362.00

$5,281.82

$80.18

+1,342.38

$1,422.56

TOTAL

16,000.00

$9,315.00

$3,150.56

$3,150.56

Continue to September 31, 1999 in #5-49597

$1,728

Continue to September 31, 1999 in #5-49598

$1,422.56

To view complete budget with all categories, please click on: tabudget.htm

UCIS is also in direct support of developing inroads toward a better understanding of Viet Nam through its literature, arts and people. Toward this end, The Curriculum in Asian Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UCIS), and the Department of English at the University of North Carolina Wilmington have formed a study group on contemporary Vietnamese literature for teachers, students, and faculty.

The purpose of the study group is to bring this literature to greater academic attention, by carefully reading select works with the guidance of two experts. Dan Duffy, a graduate student in anthropology at the UNC-Chapel Hill and Dana Sachs, an instructor in the English Department at UNC-Wilmington. Mr. Duffy and Ms. Sachs will guide the discussion of texts which offer insights into contemporary life, both in Viet Nam and elsewhere. Access to contemporary SouthEast Asian literature is seriously lacking in NC higher education and K-12 environments and it is hoped that these workshops will provide a beginning in addressing these shortcomings.

As a direct result of advertising "TeachAsia" and our collaborative efforts, the Fort Bragg school system requested UCIS Outreach to provide to the Fort Bragg school system staff and teachers (600) with a workshop on Korea. The workshop was held on February 11, 1999 at Fort Bragg and presenters were paid for by UCIS. During a recent joint conference with Fayetteville State University titled CELEBRATING AND AFFIRMING DIVERSITY-2000 AND BEYOND we provided information to 90 teachers on many world regions and focused on Asia. To view full conference offering go to: http://metalab.unc.edu/ucis/btl4/events/slot1/FSU/fsu1.html

Cumberland County Schools with coordination by Paris Moore, Curriculum Development are planning to have a number of sessions on Asia in the 1999/00 academic year. Teachers that are participating in the "Teach America" Program in North Carolina have received 40 packets of information on outreach activities at UNC-CH, the TeachAsia Project and our TeachAsia Resource Center at Phillips. Finally, the UNC-CH Carolina Kids summer camp is using a number of presenters from our program to provide sessions on Asia to over 350 children on June 21, July 12, and July 26. The program is for children of UNC-CH faculty and staff and is headed by Laura Kellison.

We believe that other school districts in North Carolina will have similar requests concerning information on Asia and we appreciate the guidance concerning grant possibilities that has been provided by Larry Ashmun, Asia Society. Additional financial support from Asia Society, and other grant making organizations will help us meet these needs and take the TeachAsia program beyond the Chapel Hill/Carrboro School District.

To summarize, while organizing TeachAsia events and activities was challenging at times, the final achieved results and knowledge gained by teachers on Asia are well worth the effort in providing a program such as TeachAsia. It is my hope that the program continues to provide a well structured and responsive educational agenda with a two week immersion workshop and yearlong activities for other school districts and teachers.