DOCUMENT RESUME ED 362 233 JC 930 456 AUTHOR Fersh. Seymour TITLE Integrating the Trans-National/Cultural Dimension. Fastback 361. Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, Bloomington, INSTITUTION Ind. REPORT NO ISBN-0-87367-361-1 PUB DATE 93 NOTE 41p. AVAILABLE FROM Phi Delta Kappa, P.O. Box 789, Bloomington, IN 47402-0789 ($1.25; $1 for members). PUB TYPE Viewpoints (Opinion/Position Papers, Essays, etc.) (120) MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE DESCRIPTORS *Cultural Awareness; Cultural Education; Cultural Enrichment; *Cultural Pluralism; *Curriculum Development; Educational History; Educational Innovation; *International Education; *Multicultural Education; *Program Implementation; Role of Education ABSTRACT Arguing for the integration of trans-national and cultural studies into education at all levels, this pamphlet traces the historical development of trans-national/cultural education and considers the implications and implementation of such education. A prologue first defines the "trans-national/cultural dimension" as a holistic educational environment that helps people transcend culture-conditioned, ethnocentric perceptions and behavior. The next section describes the narrow political/military historical approaches to foreign area studies in the United States that were before 1940; the ethnocentric efforts mirroring the country's global presence that were initiated after World War II; and recent efforts to focus on the ways that cultures are interrelated. This section also highlights the increasing diversity of the nation's population and the importance of appreciating differences among cultures. The third section describes approaches to implementing the trans-national/cultural dimension, including a focus on students and their reaction to material for younger students, on the process of instruction for slightly older students, and on content for older high school or college students. The next section emphasizes the importance of integrating the trans national /cultural dimension into the educational system to enable students to adapt to the diversity and change of the modern world. The final section presents addresses for 47 institutions providing cultural services and materials and provides citations for 11 related publications. (ECC) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. **************************************************k***A**************** A .1M I U S DEPARTMENT Of EDUCATION Once 0 Educations' Rassarcn and Unpeovernnt EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) "(This dtxurnni het been froOduCI OS 1CeiPd loom the person or organization "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS originating II MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY (1 Minor changes nate nowt mac* to irnpeo reproduction Quelely Ppnit OI ** o opnion staffed In 1me docu menu do not nct anly t oproteni &ki D. Burleson OF Al position or polity L. TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) " , , 2 SEYMOUR FERMI Seymour Push is professor of humanities at Brevard Communi College in Cocoa, Florida. He received his B.A. and M.A. from t State University of New York at Albany and his Ph.D. from Na York University. For more than 35 years, he has been involved trans-national/cultural education as a teacher, administrator, writ speaker, and consultant. He began his career as a high school soc studies teacher in New Paltz, New York, and has taught at Montcl State College, Rutgers University, and Fairleigh Dickinson Univ sity. For 13 years he was education director of the Asia Society, he served as director of international services for the American I sociation of Community Colleges. Fersh's immersion in cultural studies began in 1958 with his Fulbright assignment in India. Since then, he has served as a cons ant on cultural studies with UNESCO, the U.S. Department of I:, cation, and many colleges and school systems. Fersh's publications include many journal articles and the ti books: India and South Asia (Macmillan, 1971), The Story of Ii (McCormack-Mathers, 1970), Learning About Peoples and Cult, (McDougal, Linen, 1989), and Asia: Teaching About/Learning t (Teachers College Press, 1978). He also was editor fir the high scl text series, Cultural Regions of the World, published by Macmil Series Editors, Derek L. Burleson and Donovan R. Walling Integrating the Trans-National/Cultural Dimension by Seymour Fersh Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 93-84646 ISBN 0-87367-361-1 Copyright (c) 1993 by the Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation Bloomington, Indiana This fastback is sponsored by the Lewis University/Will County Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa, which made a generous contribution toward publication costs. The chapter sponsors this fastback in hon- or of Ronald N. Strahanoski, a charter mem- ber of the chapter and Area 5D Coordinator, for his leadership and service to the ideals s of Phi Delta Kappa. ) Table of Contents Prologue 7 From Ethnocentric to Transcentric: Challenges and Responses 9 "Era of Neglect" Reversed 9 Motivation Affects Purpose 10 Era of "I Never Thought. Felt. Appreciated. Realized That" 11 Awareness Affects Judgment 12 From Melting Pot to Trans-Cultural Diversity Within Unity 14 Implementing the Trans-National/Cultural Dimension 16 1he Student/Process/Content Is the Subject 17 Helping the Student Become More Self-Educating 23 1ranscending Cultural Conditioning 24 Epilogue 26 Sources and Resources 30 Prologue No longer will num he able to see himself unrelated to mankind, nei- ther will he be able to see mankind unrelated w life, nor life unrelated to the universe. Teilhard de Chardin We all know, with help from the Chinese proverb, that a long jour- ney begins with a first step. But more important than starting out is carefully determining the direction you wish to travel. This decision is especially crucial for educators, because we decide not only for ourselves but also for those whom we teach. In this fastback we will consider why and how trans-national/cultural education should be an integrated and vital dimension of our schools. Let's start with terminology. I prefer the terms "trans-national" and "trans-cultural" because, for me, they convey an "above and beyond transcending" to describe a dynamic, holistic relationship among, rath- er than between, nations and cultures. I combine the terms "national" and "cultural" with a slash (/) as the Chinese do in Yin/Yang to visually and conceptually represent the relationship among nations and cultures, including those within a particular nation specifically our own. I prefer the term "dimension" because, to me, it represents an educa- tional environment, rather than only an internationalized curriculum. The "trans- national /cultural dimension" includes all studies, programs, 7 projects, and activities that help one to transcend culture-conditioned, ethnocentric perceptions, perspectives, feelings, and behavior. This dimension should increase not only one's knowledge of self and others but also one's wisdom and affinity with all living beings. Selecting and defining terms is a good place to start. We are re- minded of the admonition from Confucius. who, when asked what he would do first if he became the head of a government, said: "I would see to it that things are called by their right names. For, if things are not called by their right names, then the statements would be misleading; and when the statements are misleading, then nothing can be accomplished." This Prologue may seem slow in starting, not unlike Ravi Shankar when he tunes his sitar on stage before a concert. Listeners realize later that the "tuning up" is an integral, not separate, part of prepara- tion for the audience as well as the performer. We, too, can benefit from "warming up" together before we settle on and set out in new directions. Our prologue is past (almost). We move forward by first looking in the rearview mirror to see where our schools are now with respect to a trans-national/cultural dimension and why and how it developed that way. Then we will consider preferences and how they can be implemented. We conclude by identifying sources and resources that can help us. Challenged and confronted by the certainty that people will live increasingly in a world that is less and less an extension of the past, we now have the opportunity and necessity to he culture-creators as well as culture-inheritors. Perspective, as well as the past, is prologue. 8 From Ethnocentric to Transcentric: Challenges and Responses pluralistically in many worlds and cultures We can now live . . . In a sin- simultaneously. We are no more committed to one culture any more than to one hook or gle ratio among the human senses Compartmentalizing of hu- to one language or to one technology. . . man potential by single cultures will soon he as absurd as specialism in subject or discipline has become. Marshall McLuhan Before World War II the pattern of foreign area studies in Ameri- can schools was clear. In a course inappropriately titled World His- that humankind's most significant students were taught tory, developments occurred in Europe and, later, in the United States. In- variably. the course was textbook-centered and followed a chrono- logical arrangement. The emphasis was on political history dates and men, wars and governments. Little attention was given to such considerations as how people lived, what they created, how they viewed themselves and others. It was mainly a study of American from the Tigris-Euphrates Valley westward. origins "Era of Neglect" Reversed A dramatic thane in the curriculum began in the late 1940s. Dur- ing World War II, American troops were stationed worldwide; and 9 9 these global assignments continued after the war. It is said that the American flag follows the American dollar; it also can be said that the American curriculum follows the American flag. As the United States became a world political power and extended its global eco- nomic investments, our education system was expected to prepare stu- dents for a future in which they would be increasingly involved either personally or through their represen- throughout the world tatives. The keynote addresses at education conferences in the early 1950s warned that "We can no longer afford the luxury of ignoring three-fourths of the world's people" and "We must know the nature of our potential enemies." Whereas the study of non-European cultures had been peripheral in the curriculum before World War II, attention to them increased greatly in the decades that followed. The end of the "Era of Neglect" was hastened by another development: the communications revolu- tion. The rapid expansion of television reportage of global events be- gan to bring the world into the homes and consciousness of Americans. Children began learning about the world before they learned about their neighborhood. Students came to school with information and questions generated outside the classroom. The teacher's exclusive role as "all-knower," or even as "most-knower," diminished. There is no Teacher's Edition for news broadcasts. In Marshall McLuhan's words, "The world has become the campus." Motivation Affects Purpose Because the motivation to study other cultures was at first based on narrowly perceived national interests, the approach was largely ethnocentric. "Crash programs" and "task forces" were created to in- crease our knowledge of the world's peoples in courses revealingly titled "Non-Western Studies." The curriculum emphasized accumulat- ing facts; instructional materials were essentially handbooks of in- formation with long lists, pronunciation guides, and statistics. Most of these early efforts were the "I never knew that" kind of learning.