I thought that distilling and presenting American history to a room full of Chinese Hong Kong students presented a challenge. But it turns out that teaching American history was just a prelude to the tightrope of teaching Chinese history to a roomful of Chinese Hong Kong students.In my English classes, we are reading DragonWings an historical fiction novel that chronicles the immigration of a Chinese man and his adolescent son from China to San Francisco in 1903.
On one hand, I don’t want to assume that my students are well-versed in all things Chinese. On the other hand, I don’t want to appear as though I think I know more about the Chinese experience than they do.
Kids, when our book takes place, the emperor was a Manchu, which is why Uncle doesn’t like him. But you all already knew that of course, right?
The Boxer Rebellion was a movement in 1901 to expel Westerners from China. It’s a fairly important event in Chinese history –or at least I think so. In a reading I had put together, I’d made reference to the Boxer Rebellion assuming the kids all knew what that was. This morning, I had half-a-dozen kids ask me “What’s the Boxer Rebellion.”
Well kid, pull up a chair and let me tell you what I know about your Chinese heritage.
It’s a tricky balancing act.
I’ve been alive three times longer than they have and I am the teacher and I am better read than they are. (Well at least most of them.)
Then again, they are the ones who are Chinese.
I guess we’re going to have to figure this out as we go along and extend a lot of grace to one another in the process.
-Jack
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