Context:  This unit was created for RE 3000, Learner Diversity, Spring 2007.  It was created under the advisement of Dr. Nancy Mamlin. 

This unit was designed to give teachers and future teachers information about the Hmong community and their culture that will be helpful if they have a Hmong student or students in their classroom.

Impact:  This unit was created to provide information about the Hmong people.  It includes well know or successful members of the Hmong community, classroom practices to help teachers understand what is acceptable and what is unacceptable when dealing with Hmong students, stereotypes of the Hmong, children's books about the Hmong culture and members of the community that can be used in a classroom setting, statistics of the Hmong in North Carolina and the United States, and a resource bank that list web sites, churches, and other ways to get information about the Hmong and their culture.

Alignment:  This unit met the following North Carolina Standards for Elementary School Teachers:

Standard 14:  Elementary teachers develop strategies to address topics that are controversial to diverse groups.

• Indicator 1:  Teachers understand and respect that families and communities may have diverse attitudes about the educational process.

- This standard was met by including the classroom practices section of the Culture Report.  It contains differences in the Hmong belief system that the teacher should know when dealing with Hmong students and their parents.

• Indicator 2:  Teachers promote the open-minded discussion of controversial issues by developing and using various strategies such as debates, use of data gathering, and analysis for informed decision making, and recognition of bias and propaganda.

- This standard was met by providing a list of stereotypes so that the teacher will be well informed about the misconceptions of the Hmong culture and will be able to pass that on to his/her students.  The book list may also be used to spark conversation about the culture.

• Indicator 3:  Teachers guide students in developing rational solutions to controversial problems

-  This standard was met by providing a list of stereotypes.  This may be used when talking with students about the misconception they may have about the Hmong people and how they can interact with members of that community.

• Indicator 4:  Teachers explore multiple viewpoints and respect values consistent with the demographic community by recognizing and valuing the family roles and educating children of diversity.

- This standard was met by providing a list of children's books about the Hmong people which can be used to include the Hmong student in the lesson.  The list of well known members of the Hmong community can be included in a lesson by having the students write a research paper on one of the people provided in the list.  The stereotypes list will also be an asset when teaching students that are not apart of the Hmong community and have the Hmong student give their input.

• Indicator 5:  Teaching discourages prejudice, derogatory comments and stereotypical perspectives by modeling and selecting bias free instructional materials. 

- This standard was met by including the children's book list, which doesn't include stereotypical views of the Hmong and provides accurate information about their culture.  The list of stereotypes also discourage incorrect or offensive misconceptions of the Hmong people by disproving some of the stereotypes about them.

• Indicator 6:  Teachers search for effective means of educating all students in creative and effective instructional goals, methods, and skills that match the diversity of students.

- This standard was met by including the list of children's books.  By including a list of books ranging in reading levels the teachers can use them to educate their students by assigning them to read them or just reading them to the entire class.