A Review of Vietnamese American Curriculum Project
The Vietnamese American Curriculum Project is the brainchild of Michael Matsuda, chairman of the board for the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance. The project has developed a curriculum guide aiming to provide a comprehensive overview of the social, cultural, economic and political experiences of Vietnamese Americans that teachers can easily incorporate in their classes.
So far the curriculum guide has already received widespread support. Vietnamese organizations such as the Union of Vietnamese Student Associations and Vietnamese American Public Affairs Committee have pledged to help spread and promote the curriculum. Teaching Tolerance, a national teachers organization, is promoting the guide to its members. The guide can be found in the Vietnamese American section on tolerance.org.
"The California Department of Education will include this curriculum as a resource in their annual catalog, which will be sent to all 300,000 teachers in the state," said Michael Matsuda, co-author of the curriculum and member of the California State Curriculum Commission.
Many teachers are already incorporating the curriculum in their classes.
The curriculum guide’s eight lessons cover topics like immigration, identity, and human rights. This review will briefly highlight some of the achievements and flaws of the curriculum.
Lessons 1: The Boat People: Separation and Loss
This lesson aims to develop students’ understanding of separation and loss in the context of the Vietnamese "Boat People" experience.
The guide suggests having students engage in an activity demonstrating seperation. Students are asked to list their ten most important things. They are then asked to remove things from their list two at a time. Each time they remove items from their list, students are told that they will never see these items again.
Personal activities such as the one suggested by the guide typical make a greater impact and enhance understanding by students.
Lesson 2: Immigrants and Refugees
Here students are asked to role-play three groups - refugees, immigration offices, and observers.
Again the guide’s suggestion is great for allowing students to develop a feeling for each group’s conflict.
Lesson 3: Voice and Identity
This lesson is more of a literary brainstorm and conducted similar to a literary review/comparison class would. Words are drawn on the board and then used to brainstorm emotions attached to the word. Here the guide suggests a poem written by Tu-Uyen Nguyen and outlines a discussion around the poem.
Although less hands-on than the previous two lessons, the introduction to Vietnamese American literature is a good starting point for disucssion.
Lesson 4: Hate Crimes
Students are asked to brainstorm definitions of the terms prejudice and hate crimes. They are then asked to read a handout about the murder of Thien Minh Ly.
After a discussion over hate crimes and racism, students are asked to develop a person action plan to fight racism. Again the guide allows for students to empathize with those that have been prejudiced against.
Lesson 5: Human Rights
Here students are taught the background of human rights in general and as they specifically pertain to Vietnam. They are taught to appreciate rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and to become active citizens in promoting the recognition of human rights in the world.
Students are encouraged to write the President asking for improved human rights in Vietnam.
Lesson 6: Ho Chi Minh and Freedom of Speech
After a roleplay forcing students to take sides defending things they normally would not (ku klux klan, nazis, etc.) Students are asked to read a handout about the Little Saigon Incident involving Truong Van Tran.
This lesson seems to give students mixed messages. At the end of the handout, students are given the impression that Truong Van Tran was "wrong" in displaying a picture of Ho Chi Minh - while just before this activity, students were defending positions like Tran’s.
The handout seeks to liken Tran’s actions to shouting fire in a theatre as opposed to an act of free speech. However, the handout lacks a clear arguement of why Tran’s case is not a protected act of free speech.
Lesson 7: Oral History and Multiculturalism
This lesson focuses on interviewing a Vietnamese Refugee.
Here are the questions suggested by the guide as they pertain to the Vietnamese experiences of a Vietnames Refugee.
1. Tell us about growing up in Vietnam. Where were you born/raised? How many were in your family? What did your family do for a living? What do you remember about growing up there? What was your schooling there? What were your plans for the future when you were going to school? What made you join the military?
Life in Vietnam 2. Tell us about your life in Vietnam after 1975. Why were you unable to escape Vietnam shortly before or after the fall of Saigon? When were you imprisoned by the new Vietnamese government? Where was the prison located? How were you treated in the prison? What was a typical day in prison? Please describe? Were your family members able to visit you in the prison? When did the Vietnamese government release you from prison? What was life like for you after your release?
Leaving Vietnam 3. Tell us when and how you left Vietnam. How old were you at the time? Why did you and/or your family leave? What were your plans? By what means did you leave Vietnam? Did you leave any immediate family members behind? Did you have any reservations about leaving your homeland?
Although great interview questions - the interview is structured very subjectively. The questions leave no opportunity for the interviewee to discuss anything other than disdain for the Vietnamese government. Students are only exposed to a one sided view.
A couple more questions should be suggested in order to make the interview less biased.
Lesson 8: A Vietnamese American Monument
Students are asked to build a small monument for Vietnamese Americans after studying sever American monuments.
This lesson returns to a more general and less biased perception similar to that of lessons 1-5. Students seek to gain insight on the emotions behind the construction of monuments.
Conclusion:
Altogether the guide is a great achievement. This guide is designed for use with students in grades 7 and above. The guide does shed light on the complexities of Vietnamese Americans as group and encourages students to understand the difficulties of Vietnamese Americans. However, lessons 6 and 7 need minor revisions to avoid being branded as narrow and baised.