TAAS Empowers Educators to Create Their Own AAPI Lesson Plans

On July 9–10, 2024, we hosted our first-ever AAPI Lesson Plan Development Workshop. On the first day, teachers participated in a virtual crash course on AAPI history. Over the course of four hours, we covered subjects ranging from the history and colonization of Hawai’i and post-1965 Asian immigration legislation to U.S. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands and so much more. We explored the multitudes of who we mean when we say “Asian and Pacific Islanders” and our unique struggles throughout American history. Because the webinars were jam-packed with information, we gave the teachers a day to digest before returning for day two.

The second part of our workshop, hosted in-person at Montclair State University, addressed a common issue among professional development workshops. Too often, teachers are overloaded with information and then expected to return to their classrooms with no time to apply what they’ve learned. Our approach was to give teachers the time and space to develop their own AAPI lesson plans so they could immediately apply what they learned into curricula for their classrooms.

We began our second day with a presentation on culturally responsive curriculum design, led by our curriculum specialist Sulynn Miao. Sulynn pulled from personal experiences to highlight the importance of distinguishing between a multicultural curriculum versus one that is truly culturally responsive. Then, she drew upon Zaretta Hammond’s teachings in Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain to connect cognitive processes with effective and adaptive lesson planning. Sulynn concluded with a powerful graphic on levels of culture and the importance of educators moving beyond surface culture (food, dress, holidays, heroes), which can actually enact cultural harm when done unresponsively, and instead build deep connections through understanding students’ cultural schemas. 

Educators then split into K-5 and grade 6-12 groups to learn how to create student-centered lesson plans that cater to their grade levels. Antika Singh led a workshop on the power of blended learning, a combination of active and engaged learning both online and offline, as a curricular model for giving students more active roles in their education. Meanwhile, Dakashna Lang led K-5 teachers in centering AAPI-inclusive children’s books in their curriculum to provide younger audiences with opportunities to explore AAPI history through literature and expand their views of who and what is America.

Participants spent the latter half of the day in focus groups, collaborating and creating lesson plans with the new historical content and curricular frameworks in mind. Teachers were bursting with ideas and inspired to create engaging and innovative lesson plans focused on wide-ranging topics. These focus groups were divided by grade level and led by alumni from our inaugural Teach Asian American Stories fellowship program. Focus group leaders provided coaching and guidance throughout the participants’ lesson-planning process. At the end of day, when the teachers presented their lesson plans, no two ideas were the same. Many participants expressed their gratitude for a workshop that zeroed in on one subject and provided the necessary resources to actually create lesson plans. 

As a high school student observing the workshop, I was given a unique opportunity to see into the mind of a teacher. I experienced an environment where I was able to learn alongside teachers and process information just as they were. Leaving the workshop, I was left with a deep appreciation for the thoughtful preparation that every teacher passionately hammered away at, and I was extremely grateful that TAAS and AAPI New Jersey could play even a minuscule role in helping these teachers educate the next generation.