Teaching about Asian Pacific Americans - (Critical Perspectives on Asian Pacific Americans) by Edith Wen-Chu Chen & Glenn Omatsu (Paperback)

About the Book

Teaching about Asian Pacific Americans was created for educators and other practitioners who want to use interactive activities, assignments, and strategies in their classrooms or workshops. Experts in the field of Asian American Studies will find powerful, innovative teaching...

Book Synopsis

The number of Asian American students in schools and colleges has soared in the last twenty-five years, and they make up one of the fastest growing segments of the student population. However, classroom material often does not include their version of the American experience. Teaching about Asian Pacific Americans was created to address this void. This resource guide provides interactive activities, assignments, and strategies for classrooms or workshops. Those new to the field of Asian American studies will appreciate the background information on issues that concern Asian Pacific Americans, while experts in the field will find powerful, innovative teaching activities that clearly convey established and new ideas. The activities in this book have been used effectively in classrooms, workshops for staff and practitioners in student services programs, community-based organizations, teacher training programs, social service agencies, and diversity training. Teaching About Asian Pacific Americans serves as a critical resource for anyone interested in race, ethnicity, and Asian Pacific American communities.

Review Quotes

"This book should be required reading for anyone who teaches a class on the nation's rapidly growing and immensely diverse Asian Pacific American population, or more generally on ethnic and racial groups in America. Experienced instructors, as well as those who are teaching for the first time, will benefit greatly from the array of innovative, exciting, and 'best practices' classroom activities and strategies that are featured in this collection. This is more than a 'how to' book. It provides a compelling perspective on how the historical and contemporary experiences of all immigrant and minority groups can and ought to be taught in the twenty-first century." --Don T. Nakanishi, UCLA Asian American Studies Center

"I learned so much from reading Teaching about Asian Pacific Americans. Not only does the book uncover mounds of hidden history and surprising information, it demonstrates a wealth of participatory teaching strategies. This is an extraordinary collection. I hope these activities find their way into classrooms across the country." --Bill Bigelow, editor, Rethinking Schools

"This collection is interdisciplinary in scope, encompassing a variety of social science disciplines including sociology as well as humanitites and professional education." --Teaching Sociology

I learned so much from reading Teaching about Asian Pacific Americans. Not only does the book uncover mounds of hidden history and surprising information, it demonstrates a wealth of participatory teaching strategies. This is an extraordinary collection. I hope these activities find their way into classrooms across the country.

This book should be required reading for anyone who teaches a class on the nation's rapidly growing and immensely diverse Asian Pacific American population, or more generally on ethnic and racial groups in America. Experienced instructors, as well as those who are teaching for the first time, will benefit greatly from the array of innovative, exciting, and 'best practices' classroom activities and strategies that are featured in this collection. This is more than a 'how to' book. It provides a compelling perspective on how the historical and contemporary experiences of all immigrant and minority groups can and ought to be taught in the twenty-first century.

This collection is interdisciplinary in scope, encompassing a variety of social science disciplines including sociology as well as humanitites and professional education.

About the Author

Edith Wen-Chu Chen is associate professor in the Asian American studies department at California State University, Northridge. Her interests include race and ethnicity, Asian American women, intercultural communication, and Asians in the Americas. Glenn Omatsu is senior lecturer in Asian American studies and faculty mentor program coordinator for the Educational Opportunity Program at California State University, Northridge. He is co-editor (with Steve Louie) of Asian Americans: The Movement and Moment.