Introducing Asian Studies in Elementary Education: China and India. Service Center Papers on Asian Studies Number 3.

Two possible approaches for teaching Asian studies at the elementary level are provided in this teaching guide. Focus is upon presenting selected, crucial aspects of Indian and Chinese culture to students who then compare cultural differences and likenesses. Cognitive and affective objectives are incorporated into the curriculum and, moreover, a paradigm for measuring cognitive and emphatic understanding of significant elements of Chinese and Indian cultures provides the teacher with an index of the degree of success or failure of this approach. The unit on China employs case studies of Chinese communities through which students study the physical setting, real life, and the ideal life of a Chinese community. Students are introduced to the rural and urban subcontinent in the unit on India by planning a vicarious trip to India in which each student begins to investigate what he takes along the trip as an insight into his own culture. Each unit suggests appropriate concepts to be developed, an outline of content, and a variety of instructional activities. A bibliography is included describing available, multi media materials on China, India, and Asia. (SJM)