Teaching Asia

Introduction

This unit is delivered by the University of Tasmania.

Teaching Asia has been designed for teachers who want to come to grips with what may still be for them the unknown world of Asia. It caters both for primary teachers wanting to include Asia across the curriculum and for secondary teachers in the areas of history, Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE/HSIE/SSE), English and the Arts.

The unit provides teachers with an understanding of what makes Asia a distinct part of the world (and what doesn't!). It provides both overviews and depth studies of the topics it covers.

Unit Structure
The unit is organised into four modules which cover those different fields. They are:

• Module One: Explorations of concepts and views of Asia. This module covers geographical, demographical and cultural approaches to understanding what is meant by Asia.
  
• Module Two: Asian achievements and contributions. This module tooks at some Grand Narratives from Asia. It tracks one of the great religions that both distinguishes and differentiates the region. The module also looks at cultural adaptations of the great Hindu epic, the Ramayana. Both topics are presented in the context of the issues they raise for teaching religion and literature from Asia in Australian classrooms.
  
• Module Three: Modern Asian nations. This module has been developed to provide Asian case studies on some of the civic themes that have entered the curriculum from the Discovering Democracy project. The topic Making Nations looks at the issues of nation-building in post-colonial Asia, and a depth study of Indonesia is provided on the same theme. The module also provides comparative studies of Australian and Asian democracy.
  
• Module Four: Interactions between Australia and Asia. Some of the important strands in Australian interactions with Asia are covered in this module. An overview is provided of Australia's economic social and cultural engagement with Asia from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. A depth study of Australia's interactions with East Timor is in presented as part of an examination of Australian foreign policy in Australia. The module concludes with a futures directed approach to the perplexing question for Australians: is Australia part of Asia?

The learning in this unit is focussed on professional practice. Topics in all the modules are all structured around a "Thinking as Teachers" framework and return to a professional perspective in a reflection at the end of exploration of the study materials.

The assessment is realistic and well integrated with your course work. It consists (80%) of reflective writing that you can construct as you read and also weights (20%) your contribution to the online discussion.

Aims and Outcomes

This unit aims to enable teachers to:
1. Explore various views of Asia
2. Identify the achievements and contributions of countries of Asia
3. Understand and explain contemporary Asian nations as products of continuity and change
4. Analyse and evaluate views that Australia is part of Asia
5. Identify stereotyping views of Asia particularly those based in imperialism, racism, ethnocentrism and sexism.
6. Apply understandings of Asia to curriculum design, teaching and learning.

At the conclusion of this module teachers will be able to:
1. Recognize various views underlying the term 'Asia' in geographical, historical, cultural and economic usage.
2. Know about key contributions and achievements of societies of Asia.
3. Explain issues in pre-modern and contemporary societies and nations of Asia.
4. Analyze and evaluate views that Australia is part of Asia.
5. Identify persisting stereotypes that create obstacles to understanding Asian societies and to recognising their achievements.
6. Identify the implications for teaching and learning of the above understandings of Asia.