David and Steve's Excellent East Asia Adventure

A first-hand exploration of China will soon become a reality for western Kansas high school students. David Ermish, world history teacher at Garden City High School, and Steve Germes, history and sociology teacher at Lakin High School in Medicine Lodge, will take as many as 20 students on an educational trip to China in Summer 2006. Both teachers want to provide their students with the same learning experience they had with the Kansas Consortium for Teaching about Asia (KCTA) based at the University of Kansas. "We want to change their lives, change their perspectives and affect how they will affect the future," said Ermish.

Last summer, Ermish and Germes were among 22 Kansas and western Missouri teachers who traveled to China and Japan on an educational trip funded by the Freeman Foundation and coordinated by KCTA. They traveled to major cities and visited historical, cultural and educational sites in both countries. After a bumpy two-hour journey to a tiny, poor, rural school in the mountains outside of Xian in China, the warm welcome they received from the educators and students made the trip well worth it for Germes. "It gave me such a sense of accomplishment and gratitude for the whole education process." Each day the travelers experienced a different aspect of Chinese or Japanese culture, and "everyday had one those highs," said Germes.

Ermish and Germes plan to create a similar opportunity for their high school students by visiting major cities, historical sites and high schools. Their ultimate goal is to broaden their students' perspectives.  Ermish said that Americans often suffer from what sociologists call "ethnocentrism," the belief that one's own group is superior to others. He hopes that by experiencing China first-hand, students will be able to accept the culture for what it is and not try to project their own ideals on it.

Nodding in agreement, Germes said, "We want to open aspects of humanity to them." He said that not only will their students have the opportunity to immerse themselves in another culture, they will also be surrounded by millions of people, an eye-opening experience for students from rural Kansas.

Taking students to China will help to establish the connection that Ermish and Germes are trying to create between their students' lives and the importance of East Asia. With the growing cultural and economic presence of East Asia, Ermish wants to ensure that his students are prepared to adapt to an ever-changing world environment. Germes hopes to create what he calls the "Wow!" effect. It happened when he told others about his experience in East Asia, and it created a snowball of interest. By becoming ambassadors of Chinese and Asian cultures in their own communities, these students will multiply community interest in East Asia.

The "Wow!" effect can already be seen in Garden City and Medicine Lodge. While in Xian last summer, Ermish and Germes purchased replicas of terracotta warriors and had them shipped home in order to add a life-sized element of Chinese culture to their classrooms in the American Midwest. After weeks of ship and railroad transport, a long wait in customs and much anticipation on the recipients' end, the terracotta warriors finally arrived. They've already attracted much more attention from students and other community members than Ermish and Germes expected.

The success that Ermish and Germes have had in incorporating many aspects of East Asia into their curriculum can be traced directly to their experience in the East Asia Institute for Teachers (EAIT), a two-credit-hour course offered at the University of Kansas. The Institute teaches K-12 educators about East Asian culture and history and helps them to incorporate these subjects into their teaching. Ermish said that EAIT gave him the tools, knowledge and resources he needed to expand on East Asian topics and to make the information more relevant and meaningful to his students.

Both Ermish and Germes have designed narrative plays to bring East Asian cultural information to life. One play illustrates the discoveries of Marco Polo in East Asia while the other play depicts the relationship between a Chinese and an English diplomat during the 1800s. Ermish and Germes have presented these plays and lectures to several classes in western Kansas. For Ermish, Germes and many communities in western Kansas, the excellent East Asia adventure is just beginning.

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