Women’s Roles in Asian America: Entry Points for K-12 Students

I teach at a charter school in St. Paul, Minnesota, with a student population that is about 97% Hmong. I’ve often been frustrated with the lack of resources I can find that are about young Hmong American people, or even about Asian Americans in general. Specifically, I’m looking to incorporate texts about young Asian American women, with feminist themes, into my class. Asian American women were often left out of the women’s liberation movement in the 1960s and 1970s, and were simultaneously left out of the burgeoning Asian American movement that was rising at the same time. As such, it’s often difficult to find texts about empowered young Asian American women. This blog seeks to provide some resources for educators frustrated in the same way.

My intent is to offer texts at a variety of reading levels and lengths. As an EL teacher, I’m often in the position of teaching small groups of students for 30-40 minutes just once a week, as are many other teachers. On the other hand, I want teachers who have block schedules to have texts available to them, as well, for longer units.

I have not taught all of these materials, or even most of them. Some of them may just be useful additions to a classroom or school library. However, when I have taught them, I will offer some of the discussion questions and scaffolds that proved useful.