Prior to embarking on the group project about Asian Americans, I must admit that I had very limited knowledge of them as a group of people. The only close, personal interaction I had with an Asian American was with a lady that I worked with when I lived in North Carolina a few years ago. She was from Laos and we became “lunch” buddies. I was experiencing a great amount of culture shock moving from Ohio to North Carolina and Dang (her name) was feeling the same way. Dang was treated like an outsider due to her ethnicity, and I could never abide by these cultural prejudices that were prevalent in the South. She brought in pictures of her wedding which was beautiful. Weddings in Laos require the bride to wear red instead of white. Also, when she found out that I loved Asian food she brought in a feast of chicken fried rice. To this day it is the best Asian food I have ever had.
This experience helped to enlighten me to a degree as to some of the cultural rituals and practices of the Asian culture. But Laos is only one of several countries that make up the continent of Asia. In this paper, my intent is to highlight the history, demographics, gender roles, and educational challenges and concerns faced by Asian parents and students as well as those of their teachers. Throughout the research I have done for this project, I have come to realize what a diverse group of people Asian Americans happen to be.
The Essay on To Be American
When our forefathers established the American Constitution, they held the beliefs that all citizens of the U.S. should have the basic freedoms and rights, equality and security. These basic beliefs laid the foundation for our country. These ideas are still used today. If Americans did not have basic freedoms and rights, then our government would not be a democracy. Some of these freedoms include ...
This is just a little background on how Asians have come to be Asian Americans. The first recorded Asians coming to America were Filipinos settling in Louisiana in 1750, and Indian Asians followed suit in 1790 by settling in Boston and Philadelphia. Many Chinese came to America in 1850 settling in California and New York. Several became railroad workers with westward expansion. The Japanese came to America around 1869 (Chan).
Most Asians came to America for the same reason Europeans or any other people groups have, freedom and all that entails.
Approximatley 14,907,198 or 5.0% of the U.S. population is Asian American. There are roughly 500 different languages and dialects that are spoken among Asian Americans. In addition, there are nearly 32 different ethnic groups represented among them (Min).
The 2000 census showed Asian Americans to be the fastest growing racial group in the United States, increasing from 3.8 million in 1980 to 6.9 million in 1990 to 10.2 million in 2000 (http://www.asian-nation.org/population.shtml).
Men are the patriarchs of Asian American families. Women hold very traditional roles in the family as nurturers and caregivers to their children. This doesn’t mean that all Asian American women are homemakers. Many Asian American women do work outside of the home and as education increases in these families so does the amount of Asian mothers working outside the home (Min).
Historically, many Asian women were often deceived and kidnapped back in the 1800’s to work as prostitutes in America. They were viewed as being sinful and causing young white men to be led into a life of “sin.” Many venereal diseases were brought to the United States during this time. This cause a lot of discrimination by the American public towards Asian women for one hundred years since they were all perceived to be prostitutes
(http://www.asian-nation.org/gender.shtml).
Education is of the utmost importance to Asian American parents. They make many personal and financial sacrifices to ensure that their children get the best education. However, Asian American parents view educators as authority figures and may be reluctant to get involved with decisions about how a classroom is run. They may defer to the educator as the expert and may be very reluctant to give input about their child’s education (Min).
The Research paper on Asian American Stereotypes Women Vietnamese Americans
Through the Eyes of Asian MenOverviewAsian stereotypes are a product of prevailing myths propagated by various media, from books, plays, movies, television, to even historical propaganda. Generally speaking, the stereotyping of Asian women often swing to extreme types: the docile, subservient sexual object, or the dragon lady. Asian Americans only make up a small percentage of the United States ...
Another issue educators may face is that Asian American children are taught to respect their elders by not looking them in the eye (Min).
This flies in the face of what most American children are taught, which is “look at me when I’m talking to you.” Also, Asian Americans will often go along with what you say even if they don’t agree. They do this to save face for both you and them. So, you may think that a student is on board with your way of thinking when in actuality they disagree with you (http://www.dbpeds.org/articles/detail.cfm?TextID=397).
This could lead to the educator not really knowing if the student is getting what they need from what is presented in the classroom.
Communication in the Asian American culture is done mostly with facial expressions. Also, people speaking with them are expected to be able to get the implied meaning of what they say. So, it is possible if you don’t know the culture to mistaken what they may be communicating to you (http://www.dbpeds.org/articles/detail.cfm?TextID=397).
This could also come into play during parent-teacher conferences and could cause miscommunication.
Asian Americans have been stereotyped as being highly intelligent and especially gifted in Math in Science. It is very important for teachers to never make these assumptions about Asian American students. Asian Americans could have other gifts and abilities. Also, they are labeled as the “model minority,” which means they don’t have a lot of crime and they achieve a great deal of success which may not be true across the board (Min).
Teaching Asian American students may be very rewarding given their attributes of respect for authority figures such as teachers. Also, since their parents are invested in their children’s education, students may be better about getting their homework done than children who don’t have the same parental input. In addition, it will be an opportunity to get to know more about another culture.
Asian Americans are part of a collectivist culture which means the emphasis is more on the good of the group than the individual. This is very important when considering which activities a student should engage in within the classroom. They may not enjoy doing problems at the board, but they may really enjoy a group project. Above all educators need to really respect their Asian students and be sensitive to the cultural norms that they adhere to.
The Essay on American Indian Culture And Its Effects On Nursing
The Native Americans are very rich of all the other groups in terms of culture of all the other groups in America. Most of the modern ways of life in America is either directly or indirectly borrowed or learnt from the Indian cultures of long ago. Many symbols used in America today can trace their roots from the Native Indian Americans. Since the beginning of time right from independent the ...
The history, demographics, and gender issues that constitute the Asian American population are many and diverse. Historically, Asian Americans haven’t always been viewed in a positive light. Now, they are on the other side of the spectrum as the model minority. The cultures and languages of the Asian American population are numerous and diverse. So, it is imperative that nobody has a preconceived notion of what an Asian American person will be like. This is especially true for teachers in the classroom setting. Also, it is important to remember the struggle that Asian American females have faced historically. Asian, female students should be given many opportunities to excel. With determination to know one’s students and open arms educators can be very successful at teaching Asian American students.
Works Cited
Chan, Sam. (March 11, 2007).
Retrieved October 10, 2007, from Understanding Cultural Diversity: Asian American Family Roots.
Website: http://www.dbpeds.org/articles/detail.cfm?TextID=397
Retrieved October 3, 2007 from Asian Nation Asian American history, Demographics and Issues http://www.asian-nation.org/population.shtml
Min, Pyong Gap. (2006).
Asian Americans Contemporary Trends and Issues Second Edition. California: Pine Forge Press.
