Asia Connects / Cherchons l’Asie

Conference Report

Recommendations
Panel 1: Overview of Asia

Objectives:
To provide a general introduction to Asia and its relationship to Canada.
To introduce the diversity in Asia: its people, culture, geography and economies.

To establish a mandatory culture club in each school that would promote Asian culture. This self-financing club will be involved in developing systems/methods to get people interested in Asian culture, such as essay-writing contests with an entry fee allowing winners to be awarded a trip to an Asian country. Obviously, the essay topics will be related to Asia and the entry charge will cover the costs of the trips.

To offer students more core courses and activities in areas concerning Asia and the Pacific Rim, because as young Canadians, we believe that it is important to be aware of what is occurring in Asia to avoid following and believing the propaganda in the media.

To ensure Asian knowledge, core courses must contain units on Asian studies and be available to all youth. To promote and support a true and fair visage of Asia, the media must be encouraged to be objective and to report on only the facts.

To increase understanding of Asia, we propose the implementation of educational programs dealing directly with Asian values, history and society. These programs should be introduced to all high school students. Any additional charges could be forwarded to the school budget, however expenses may be minimal. These activities/classes/other could be in the form of a club, committee or a class. Each learning unit, be it a club or a class can have varying activities ranging from homestays, to local activities.

To offer courses on Asia Pacific in the areas of history and language in Secondary Schools.

To bring together the teachers and administrators, who would be most affected by the knowledge delegates gained attending the conference and explain what delegates learned. We will be able to incorporate better the cultures of the world, thus tightening the ties of the global village for the future.

To promote multicultural programs, and instill in our youth the idea that Canada and Asia are interdependent and exist as equals; that cultural differences must be understood, respected and used to mutual advantage; and that population issues must be understood and made a priority.

To improve the current high school curriculum by including Asian studies in subjects like history, geography, social sciences, business, and religion, thus broadening our understanding of Asia, in order " to expose rather than impose".

To encourage Canadian and Asian governments to work co-operatively at helping us understand one another. Canadians can be better informed by publishing culturally diverse texts; increased interaction between Asian immigrants and Canadian students; international co-operative or study exchanges, and through the use of modern technology (internet, video-conferencing, etc.).

To create a youth network program that sustains communication through multimedia, Internet and exchanges to gain experience, knowledge and a mutual understanding of developing countries.

To educate present and future generations by implementing Asian studies into senior curriculum in each province, considering the importance of Asia to our future. To support this objective, teacher exchanges with Asia should be encouraged.

To establish national standards regarding the promotion of Asian cultures. This can be accomplished by funding programs that allow for exposure to these cultures through exchanges and inter-cultural events.

To eliminate language barriers by making it mandatory to learn more than one language and culture; to facilitate access to overseas careers and trading activities abroad; and create websites to get people into the groove of the Asia Pacific.

To create a balanced dialogue by allowing Asians to tell us about their experiences, lives and ideas, rather than hearing Canadians speak about Asia. To promote occasions to hear from ordinary, working class Asians rather than celebrities, the rich, or academics. It is important to hear about real life according to everyday people in order to truly understand another society.

To acknowledge cultural differences and search for similarities through cultural events such as food stalls, fashion shows, music and dance nights, speakers, and performers.

To form a modern day collage of pictures of Asia showing things such as music and culture, to present to classes and groups.

To provide education sources free of bias with different points of views.

To declare one day a year "Canada's Day of the Asia Pacific" and celebrate it with poster contests, dinners and other activities focusing on the Asia Pacific.

To set aside a week for Asian culture awareness.

To encourage groups to undertake research activities on Asia Pacific using resource books, CD-ROM, videos and the Internet, and to present their finding to other groups.

To offer course units in the Social Studies curriculum that teach about the issues and cultures of Asian countries. If curriculum changes are not feasible, then encourage schools themselves to implement programs to raise the level of awareness concerning the Asian Pacific region.

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