Erin Hengel

An, S. (2012). Korean American High School Students’ Perspectives on U.S. History. Social
Studies, 103(1), 12-19. doi:10.1080/00377996.2011.581711

Lew, J. (2006). Burden of Acting Neither White Nor Black: Asian American Identities and
Achievement in Urban Schools. Urban Review, 38(5), 335-352. doi:10.1007/s11256-006-
0040-8

Rationale: I choose Korean American for this analysis because with a raising diversity in public

schools there are more students from other backgrounds that are often overlooked. Korean

American students often get lumped with Asian Americans. They are a separate ethnic group,

and when most people think of Asian Americans, they often think of the “success” label placed

on these students. As stated in the article many Korean American students find social studies

classes to be often dull because they do not fit the cultural background of all the students in the

classrooms. It is also seen that they are a newer group and the school systems have not adjusted

to including their history yet in the curriculum. The students that are facing difficulties in school

is due to lack of their communities helping them align with their ethnic background, and it is

shown in the articles that Korean American’s either conform to the American culture or don’t

relate to it and find it harder to connect to the history classes. My licensure is in social studies

secondary education which is the second reason I chose this ethnic group.

Author Credibility: “Korean American High School Students’ Perspectives on U.S. History”

written by Sohyun An. She works in the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood

Education at Kennesaw State University. She has written thirteen different articles on the Korean

American student bodies and the relation to U.S. history. She has an expertise in

multiculturalism, cross-cultural studies, social studies, and American History. In her other article
“U.S. History through the Eyes of South Korean Youth” written in 2014 by her and Myung Jung

Kim, and Stacy Delacruz. She did a survey on one-hundred and eighty-one students which they

found that when teachers offer stories, examples and relate U.S. History to world history the way

that middle schools often due they were able to understand it more teachers used different

perspectives on a topic the more they were interested.

Motive for writing the article: To emphasize that educators should use multiple perspectives

when teaching U.S. History. That when students are engaged in the different experiences that

had happened in the past and can have a complete understanding of the concept of the nation’s

past they are more likely to understand it. Educators should also learn to compare U.S. history to

other countries that they are also more likely to bring students into the classroom.

Central Argument: The United States classrooms are becoming more diverse, and students

often don’t learn their countries history at home. If a school is a primary place for students to

learn about history, as in the case of my participants, there is a critical need for teachers to

introduce multiple perspectives as well as complexity and controversy in historical

interpretations so that students would develop a more critical understanding of history (An,

2012). Educators in high schools can help with this by straying away from the textbook they can

tell stories, give examples, and relate it to other countries history. Teachers need to become more

aware of their student's backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities.

Section I: Cultural Characteristics of Ethnic

The Korean American’s take pride in Korean history. “A few expressed interest in learning

more about Korean history, but they said ‘not in school though. I can ask my mom or my
grandparents, and they will be so happy to teach me about it.’” (An, 2012). An is saying in this
quote that the students learn enough about their heritage from their family at home and don’t
want to learn about it in school. Korean American’s value education, they work hard for, most
Commented [WNP1]: As you look at my Activities to
Investigate Funds of Knowledge list in D2L – Clinical
Experiences Module, you can see ways that teachers might
investigate existing Funds of Knowledge that exist in the
lives, homes and communities of Korean students.

said that they could do whatever they want with life and the sky is the limit. The senior Brian

that she interviewed was applying for college. Jennifer was another student interviewed, and she

was taking AP classes.

Section II: Important Societal Factors

All, of the students that took part in An’s study, had similar economic conditions, household

dynamics, and classroom dynamics. “All of my participants were born in the United States to

middle-class Korean immigrant parents” (An, 2012). All her students she looked at did not have

other stressors that some would have. They lived in the suburbs and participated in afterschool

activities. By living in middle-class situations, students can spend more time on homework and

learning.

Household dynamics were all the same too parents held jobs like professors, store owners, or

engineers. “Korean American students in my study rarely learned from their parents or other

family members about U.S. history” (An, 2012). Students would look to movies, television, trade

books, news magazines, and the internet as sources beyond the textbooks they for information.

Meaning they could be missing the big picture of learning history or getting misinformed from

non-credible sources. By not getting other views of historical events they end up relying on

textbooks as being more reliable source because they are not getting different perspectives in

classrooms.

Section III: Educational Strategies and Interventions

 Most Korean American students do not get the nation’s history at home and school is their

only learning environment for it. There are two primary interventions that teachers can use for

helping engage students they can challenge students and using a combination of the textbook and

other added details. The first education strategy that a teacher can do is test the students by

looking at different views in history and engaging students through debate. Most of the students

in the article commented that history was boring. “Kristine longs for a history classroom where

students talk, share, explore, and discuss” (An, 2012). Kristine was one of the students that An

further interviewed, and Kristine talked about how everything she had learned was repetitive and

how she spent the whole year listening to her teacher lecture and taking notes. The class did not

challenge Kristine, and she does not learn anything new. She is interested in taking the same

class but, wanting it from another perspective.

The second is using the textbook. When using the textbook students get a credible source and

know feel they knew the truth. “Many considered history textbooks as factual accounts of the
past that ‘basically tell what happened in the past’ because ‘textbooks were written by historians
or college history professors and edited by many people like experts in the history’” (An, 2012).
An discusses in her article that many students feel trust in a textbook because they have not been
exposed to other views. This is because many of the students were not exposed to it at home
either. Most of the students are learning the history from their home country or their parent’s
Commented [WNP2]: I ask you to do some investigation
on the following texts to broaden perspectives/discussions
on history:
Lies my Teacher Told Me
A People’s History of the United States
A Different Mirror
Get some background on these texts and then think about
what a more critical history class could look like for students
like these discussed in your analysis who don’t see
themselves or their history portrayed in a way that is
accurate or even present.

country rather than United States history. Other’s said their parents did not have time to teach Nice discussion in this Research Report - Rubric Score: 3/3/3

them about what they knew about American history.

 Refrences

An, S. (2012). Korean American High School Students’ Perspectives on U.S. History. Social
Studies, 103(1), 12-19. doi:10.1080/00377996.2011.581711

Lew, J. (2006). Burden of Acting Neither White Nor Black: Asian American Identities and
Achievement in Urban Schools. Urban Review, 38(5), 335-352. doi:10.1007/s11256-006-
0040-8