Who is Martin Luther King, Jr.? Oh, you celebrate a holiday next week--what's it for?
Let’s Introduce MLK to Taiwan
By Kevin Stoda, an American from Kansas in Taiwan
As I have noted in prior blogs, it is important for English teachers or foreign language teachers working outside their homelands to take time and share a bit about their culture, their habits, their interests, and their traditions. One way I have advocated doing this in the past is through the creation of a a newsletter. Another way is by creating worksheets and lesson plans that either directly or indirectly introduce culture, famous persons, and information about language and slang.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/A-Suggestion-for-the-Thous-by-Kevin-Anthony-Stod-101110-996.html
This past semester, for example, I have share the following in lesson plans: (1) The history of Kansas basketball, Dr. James Naismith & Wilt Chamberlain, (2) Smallville, Kansas and the character of Superman in TV and media—including the concept of Midwestern Values, and (3) Benjamin Franklin’s proverbs and life. Likewise, I have invited students to share photos from their own friends and family in Taiwan and China, and I have invited my wife as a guest speaker, i.e. inviting students to ask questions about her experiences in her homeland, the Philippines, and here in Taiwan.
MOST RECENT NEWSLETTER:MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY
The importance of focusing on sharing culture and value messages as a foreign language teacher in Taiwan was once again made clear this week to me as I typed up and handed out my newest “Kevin’ Beigan Newsletter”. (Beigan is the island in the Matsu archipelago, where I work and teach in three schools inthree different towns.) On-half of the focus of this 2-page-long newsletter was to introduce or reintroduce to my Taiwanese teaching colleagues at the 3 schools:
(1) who Martin Luther King Jr. was,
(2) why he was important in USA history,
(3) where some good internet links on his life were to be found,
(4) the fact that American’s are celebrating the Martin Luther King Jr. National Holiday this coming Monday, and
(5) how this particular holiday was different than most—i.e. as it focuses on giving service to our communities.[1]
As well, I naturally including one large photo of the late Dr. King in the newsletter. I chose to focus on MLK, of course, because this is a USA national holiday and I am the only representative of this culture in these 3 communities.
I was, however, more than stunned that almost-no-one in Taiwan seemed to recognize the photo of Dr. King. Moreover, they did not seem to recognize his name—regardless as to how I pronounced it.
Later, I looked on Wikopedia and discovered that next-to-nothing had been written about one of the great men of the last 100 years in Chinese—at least on Wikipedia. Amazing.
http://gan.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%E9%A6%AC%E4%B8%81%C2%B7%E8%B7%AF%E5%BE%B7%C2%B7%E9%87%91&variant=gan
HOW MUCH SHOULD I FORCE MY CULTURE ON OTHERS?
Naturally, in creating such biweekly newsletters, I need to ask myself:
(a) Who is my target audience?
(b) What topics do I choose to write about this time?
(c) How can I interest my colleagues in reading what has been written? and
(d) How do I avoid boring or appearing to force my interests in my own cutlure onto others—who have their own weekly schedule?
Keeping the newsletter short and including a few images is one way I colleagues to have and take time to peruse the newsletter. Another way is to come up to each one and hand them the newsletter face-to-face.
I tend to try my best not to foist my newsletter on my colleagues in a way that is not friendly. I usually just hand the newsletter to the 15 or so colleagues and staff at each of the schools I work at. Some say thank you.
Others are not around, so I leave the newsletter on their desk. However, this past week, I decided to make more of an effort to engage my peers and find out a bit more about their background and education on American culture, by looking at MLK and MLK Day at the same time.
I had decided to do this after hearing a comment by a principal at one school, who had responded—“Who is that?” as she looked at the photo of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. [2]
Over the next several days at the different schools where I work I took about 20 seconds to clarify that (1) there was a national holiday in America this January 17, (2) the holiday was named after a famous American that many people on the planet recognize immediately, and (3) this is a service-oriented holiday. making these three points did not take more than 20 to 30 seconds of my colleagues time. I often began the 3-point spiel by asking the potential reader (a colleague) if they knew the dark man in the photo, i.e. Dr. M.L. King, Jr.
Finally, in the newsletter, itself, I had also noted that (a) teachers are constantly doing service to the community, but that (b) MLK Day asks all Americans to set aside time to give service to their communities.
NOTES
[1] Here are some websites on the life and times of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
http://www.dadalos.org/int/Vorbilder/vorbilder/mlk/ml_king.htm
http://www.nps.gov/malu/index.htm
http://www.thekingcenter.org/
http://www.pps.k12.or.us/schools-c/pages/buckman/timeline/kingframe.html
http://www.nps.gov/malu/forteachers/otherresources.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm
[2] Before non-Taiwanese get on their high-horse about the “whole in education” (Bildungsloeche) of the Chinese and Taiwanese, I ask them how many of them can name a single Chinese Emperor? Likewise, as far as Taiwan goes, it was under martial law for several decades—i.e. all of MLK’s life.
How many Americans or Europeans can state what 228 is or was? February 28 or 228 is a national holiday in Taiwan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/228_Incident
“The 228 Incident, also known as the 228 Massacre, was an anti-government uprising in Taiwan that began on February 27, 1947, and was violently suppressed by the Kuomintang (KMT) government. Estimates of the number of deaths vary from 10,000 to 30,000 or more.”
(Admittedly, the English translation of the 2-28 incidents is much longer than Chinese Wikipedia verson of MLK.)
By Kevin Stoda, an American from Kansas in Taiwan
As I have noted in prior blogs, it is important for English teachers or foreign language teachers working outside their homelands to take time and share a bit about their culture, their habits, their interests, and their traditions. One way I have advocated doing this in the past is through the creation of a a newsletter. Another way is by creating worksheets and lesson plans that either directly or indirectly introduce culture, famous persons, and information about language and slang.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/A-Suggestion-for-the-Thous-by-Kevin-Anthony-Stod-101110-996.html
This past semester, for example, I have share the following in lesson plans: (1) The history of Kansas basketball, Dr. James Naismith & Wilt Chamberlain, (2) Smallville, Kansas and the character of Superman in TV and media—including the concept of Midwestern Values, and (3) Benjamin Franklin’s proverbs and life. Likewise, I have invited students to share photos from their own friends and family in Taiwan and China, and I have invited my wife as a guest speaker, i.e. inviting students to ask questions about her experiences in her homeland, the Philippines, and here in Taiwan.
MOST RECENT NEWSLETTER:MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY
The importance of focusing on sharing culture and value messages as a foreign language teacher in Taiwan was once again made clear this week to me as I typed up and handed out my newest “Kevin’ Beigan Newsletter”. (Beigan is the island in the Matsu archipelago, where I work and teach in three schools inthree different towns.) On-half of the focus of this 2-page-long newsletter was to introduce or reintroduce to my Taiwanese teaching colleagues at the 3 schools:
(1) who Martin Luther King Jr. was,
(2) why he was important in USA history,
(3) where some good internet links on his life were to be found,
(4) the fact that American’s are celebrating the Martin Luther King Jr. National Holiday this coming Monday, and
(5) how this particular holiday was different than most—i.e. as it focuses on giving service to our communities.[1]
As well, I naturally including one large photo of the late Dr. King in the newsletter. I chose to focus on MLK, of course, because this is a USA national holiday and I am the only representative of this culture in these 3 communities.
I was, however, more than stunned that almost-no-one in Taiwan seemed to recognize the photo of Dr. King. Moreover, they did not seem to recognize his name—regardless as to how I pronounced it.
Later, I looked on Wikopedia and discovered that next-to-nothing had been written about one of the great men of the last 100 years in Chinese—at least on Wikipedia. Amazing.
http://gan.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%E9%A6%AC%E4%B8%81%C2%B7%E8%B7%AF%E5%BE%B7%C2%B7%E9%87%91&variant=gan
HOW MUCH SHOULD I FORCE MY CULTURE ON OTHERS?
Naturally, in creating such biweekly newsletters, I need to ask myself:
(a) Who is my target audience?
(b) What topics do I choose to write about this time?
(c) How can I interest my colleagues in reading what has been written? and
(d) How do I avoid boring or appearing to force my interests in my own cutlure onto others—who have their own weekly schedule?
Keeping the newsletter short and including a few images is one way I colleagues to have and take time to peruse the newsletter. Another way is to come up to each one and hand them the newsletter face-to-face.
I tend to try my best not to foist my newsletter on my colleagues in a way that is not friendly. I usually just hand the newsletter to the 15 or so colleagues and staff at each of the schools I work at. Some say thank you.
Others are not around, so I leave the newsletter on their desk. However, this past week, I decided to make more of an effort to engage my peers and find out a bit more about their background and education on American culture, by looking at MLK and MLK Day at the same time.
I had decided to do this after hearing a comment by a principal at one school, who had responded—“Who is that?” as she looked at the photo of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. [2]
Over the next several days at the different schools where I work I took about 20 seconds to clarify that (1) there was a national holiday in America this January 17, (2) the holiday was named after a famous American that many people on the planet recognize immediately, and (3) this is a service-oriented holiday. making these three points did not take more than 20 to 30 seconds of my colleagues time. I often began the 3-point spiel by asking the potential reader (a colleague) if they knew the dark man in the photo, i.e. Dr. M.L. King, Jr.
Finally, in the newsletter, itself, I had also noted that (a) teachers are constantly doing service to the community, but that (b) MLK Day asks all Americans to set aside time to give service to their communities.
NOTES
[1] Here are some websites on the life and times of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
http://www.dadalos.org/int/Vorbilder/vorbilder/mlk/ml_king.htm
http://www.nps.gov/malu/index.htm
http://www.thekingcenter.org/
http://www.pps.k12.or.us/schools-c/pages/buckman/timeline/kingframe.html
http://www.nps.gov/malu/forteachers/otherresources.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm
[2] Before non-Taiwanese get on their high-horse about the “whole in education” (Bildungsloeche) of the Chinese and Taiwanese, I ask them how many of them can name a single Chinese Emperor? Likewise, as far as Taiwan goes, it was under martial law for several decades—i.e. all of MLK’s life.
How many Americans or Europeans can state what 228 is or was? February 28 or 228 is a national holiday in Taiwan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/228_Incident
“The 228 Incident, also known as the 228 Massacre, was an anti-government uprising in Taiwan that began on February 27, 1947, and was violently suppressed by the Kuomintang (KMT) government. Estimates of the number of deaths vary from 10,000 to 30,000 or more.”
(Admittedly, the English translation of the 2-28 incidents is much longer than Chinese Wikipedia verson of MLK.)
Labels: Lets Introduce MLK to Taiwan martin luther king holidays culture edcucation sharing
posted by Kevin Anthony Stoda at 12:23 PM
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