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Asians and American Education
| Article
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12322 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
1 / 1987 |
5,943 Words |
| Author
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Diane Pikcunas
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The United States has long been known as a melting pot because of the mixture of various nationalities that settle within its borders. The public school system serves as an important factor in assimilating these new groups into American culture. One of the fastest growing groups in recent years has been Asian-Americans. This demographic change has great importance for an educational system that must now deal with groups that have cultural backgrounds significantly different from the Anglo-American heritage. This situation offers educators the challenge of learning more about those new Americans whose roots originate from the Far East.
Although Asian culture is different from Anglo-American culture, there also exist pronounced differences among Asian cultural groups. We cannot overgeneralize and state that because they are different from us, they must all be alike. Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Filipinos, and Indochinese have distinct and highly diverse backgrounds. There are, however, certain characteristics of Asian-Americans that we can identify and that are important to know as more and more of their children enter our school system.
The growth of this population is also important as U.S interests grow in Asia. The United States first attempted formal contact with Asians when the Empress China sailed to China in 1785 for the purpose of trade. Asia was an important focus in three of the most recent wars in which the United States engaged - World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. U.S. aid was significant in the post-World War II reconstruction of Japan, Korea, and the Republic of China on Taiwan. All three are now significant trading centers. The United States opened diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in recent years, and trade has grown from slightly under $100 million to about $7 billion. U.S. transpacific trade is more in dollar amount than U.S. transatlantic trade. Besides a growing Asian population, many students from throughout Asia study in the United States.
What do we know about the Asian people with whom we have become so involved and who have become such a significant part of our population? Not too much. We have seen over the years how a significant number of people from overseas within our population can raise the sensitivity and influence U.S. policy - notably Jewish-American concern for Israel, the Greek-Americans for Greece, and the Polish-Americans for Poland. Relations with these countries may also hinge on how well the Untied States responds to these concerns. The growing Asian-American population and the increasing American involvement in Asia serve as two excellent reasons why we should know more about the Asians among us.
According to John Naisbitt in Megatrends (1982), there is still another reason to learn more about the countries of the world. He describes the change "from a national economy to a world economy." Naisbitt continues to analyze the focus on the global perspective:
Japan is number one but that is like a new champion in a declining sport. But it is not so much like Japan is taking our place. For Japan, in turn, is being challenged by Singapore, South Korea, and Brazil - the dazzling economies of the Third World nations. Yesterday is over, and tomorrow is not going to last forever either.
The globalization of economies is concomitant with a
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