In elementary classrooms, teaching immigration often begins and ends at Ellis Island--without discussions of racist migration policies or engagement with current issues. Although contemporary immigration is rarely discussed with elementary students, the number of young people from immigrant and/or refugee backgrounds in the U.S. continues to rise.…

The World Conference on Education for All held in Jomtien, Thailand, in March 1990 was influential in the spread of student-centered pedagogies in low-income countries (Ginsburg, 2010). A document prepared in this conference considered the active and participatory teaching approaches as "particularly valuable in assuring learning acquisition…

The definition and goals of education are mercurial, varying widely across time and space. In Cambodia, which has experienced both flux and reflux over time, education--particularly in schools--has strongly reflected the political circumstances of the time. Education as a fundamental human right is a very new idea: it was, and still is to a…

This paper considers how the issue of child labour is located in Cambodian education policy debates and how it is affected by the major constraints surrounding the Cambodian education sector. In particular, it asks why Cambodian policy makers have not sought to address the issue explicitly despite its considerable, and adverse, impact on…

This paper discusses the Cambodian government's attempt to promote civic and moral values in Cambodia schools through the subject "Civics and Morals". The paper argues that the tensions and challenges associated with civic and moral education are linked to a fundamental difference between the traditional view of education in Cambodia,…

This article describes influences on intergenerational communication within refugee families about sociocultural trauma and explores how education may positively affect this communication process. Drawing on qualitative research and grounded theory through a larger study concerning intergenerational effects of and communication about trauma in…

Examined the role of language ideologies in the changing instructional and social organization of Khmer literacy classes, using data from research within a Cambodian community. Language ideologies engaged with local theories of learning to shape pedagogies and relations within classes. Form and function co-varied within groups and across settings.…

This article discusses one aspect of a research study that explored the school experiences of Cambodian American students. Due to their invisibility in the school setting and also in the literature on school reform, these children from refugee families are often overlooked as schools attempt to "close the achievement gap." Through their…

This brief article tells the story of one young man's complicated history and background that was turned around for the better through his involvement with the YMCA Youth Institute and a camp providing team-building exercises, and in-depth instruction in digital arts skills, such as how to edit photos with Adobe Photoshop and create 3D animations…

The early 1980s saw an influx of Southeast Asian refugees from various demographic groups and backgrounds to Minnesota. As teachers, the author and her colleagues regularly added children from these groups to their classrooms, receiving little explanation of a student's history or language proficiency. To counteract increasing teacher resentment…

After a brief description of the origins and languages of the three major groups of Indochinese refugees in the United States--Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians--and short references to subgroups, 20 observations on the general cultural traits of the Indochinese are given. These observations touch on the following: the importance of harmonious…

This project began when the Philadelphia Folklore Project (PFP) initiated a residency partnership with the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial in traditional Cambodian arts. The PFP anticipated raising issues that might help in the understanding of the cultural dynamics and elements that were likely to shape and effect the residency. The PFP imagined…

In recent years, Cambodia has transitioned from a communist state to a liberal democracy following market economic practices. Transition in the political economy has, in turn, influenced education and, more specifically, moral education. In this article, I define moral education more broadly than many, as additionally dedicated to the preparation…

Discusses responses of the Catholic church to the special needs of Indochinese refugees in the United States. Reviews the influence of Catholicism in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, and describes activities of itinerant ministries to Catholic refugee communities across the U.S. The church's mission must be openness and hospitality toward newcomers.…

During summer 1991, an experiential educator worked in a Cambodian refugee camp helping newly trained camp police to become a team and develop the necessary personal skills to maintain order in the face of ongoing Khmer Rouge activities. The story of that summer's experiential training ends with a remarkable long-term outcome. (SV)