1. China on the World Stage:
Weighing the U.S. Response
The Choices Program
Amy Howland
Academy of the Pacific Rim
Choices Teaching Fellow
Brown University

2. Agenda
• I. The Choices
Program
• II. The China Unit and
Values Activity
• IV. Role Play &
Debrief
• V. Other Resources
• Pictue of catalog here

3. Choices at a Glance
40 Curriculum Units
Web Resources Support Units
Almost 1,000 Scholars Online videos
Teaching with the News lessons
Professional Development
Workshops, Summer Leadership Institute
and Online Learning Module
Current
Issues
Historical

4. Meeting Common Core Standards

5. Unit Structure
Use
Scholars
Online
&
Teaching
With the
News Too.
Introduce the issue and its
historical background
Analyze the issue, policy
options and values, and
conduct role play
Students articulate their own
views on the issue

6. China on the World Stage: Weighing the
U.S. Response
What should U.S.
foreign policy be
towards China?
Essential
Question
Student Text
Teacher
Resource Book
Teacher Resource Book
TeacherResourceBook

7. The History of U.S. China Relations

8. Looking at China

9. Art and Politics: Ai Weiwei

10. Online Lessons
Looking at
the Tank Man
XuWenli and
China
Democratic
Party

11. Cross Strait Relations
Chinese or Taiwanese?

12. U.S. and Chinese Perspectives

13. Objective: To analyze the current debate on U.S. policy towards
China, and evaluate policy options.
Options Groups:
• Option 1: Press for Democratic Values
• Option 2: Promote Stability and Trade
• Option 3: Contain China
• Option 4: Keep our Distance
Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate
Options Role Play Activity

14. How Does the Options Role Play Work?
• 3 – 5 minute
options
presentations
• Senate questions

15. Deliberative Dialogue:An informed discussion

16. Concluding Activity
Creating Your Option 5
• Students create and express
their own policy.
• Share, critique and question
classmates’ policies.
• Which issues might dominate a
summit meeting in 20 years?

17. But wait, there’s more!
1. Scholars Online
2. Supplemental Materials

18. Bring Scholars to Your Classroom
Use to:
• Introduce the unit
• Expand, deepen or
reinforce concepts
• Advanced assignments
• Your own professional
development
Organized by Student Readings, Lessons and Scholar

19. Supplemental Page for Each Unit
,
Additional Materials:
Two online lessons
Power point
Ai Weiwei video
Additional documents
Web links
Bibliography

20. What is a Value?
Values
Activity
Freedom
Justice
Tolerance
Self-
reliance
Equality
Community
Cooperatio
n
Stability
Security
Democracy
http://www.choices.edu/
resources/values.php

21. Prioritizing Values Exercise
Prioritizing values
differently leads to
different policies.

22. Brainstorming:
Draw your hand.
On each finger write down the top 5 issues or
values that you believe U.S. foreign policy
should reflect in regards to ___________.
Consider all your responses, then choose the
one you think is most important and copy it
on your palm.
When formulating U.S. Foreign Policy on
________, what values should the U.S. Senate
take into consideration?

23. Objective: To analyze the current debate on U.S. policy towards
China, and evaluate policy options.
Options Groups:
• Option 1: Press for Democratic Values
• Option 2: Promote Stability and Trade
• Option 3: Contain China
• Option 4: Keep our Distance
Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate
Your Turn for the Options Role Play!

24. Preparation: Options Groups
Option Groups: Prepare a persuasive, 2 minute
presentation to convince the committee that your option is the
best one to pursue. You may wish to keep in mind the
following:
How important are U.S. - China relations compared to other
problems facing the United States?
What values underlie your option, and how do these values
impact your policies?

25. Senate Committee On Foreign Relations
Can we really
ignore an economy
as large and as
closely linked to the
U.S. as China’s?
Won’t pushing for
human rights in China
spark an anti-
American backlash?
Develop and ask pointed, clarifying questions.

26. Omit Parts of the Role Play Materials
• Values and Beliefs
• Action Steps
• Pro and Con
Arguments
• Scholars Online
• Excerpts from
Historical Records

27. Teaching Tools on our Teachers Corner
www.choices.edu/resources/tools.php
• Options Role Play video
• Tips for Role Plays video
• Guidelines for Deliberation document
• Deliberating Pros and Cons of Policy Options document
• And more….

28. NCTAsia.org
• Face-to-face and online seminars, stipends, study tours to
East Asia
• www.nctasia.org

29. Other Places to Go and Things to Do
• Five College Center for East Asian Studies, Smith College
• Free e-newlsetter, local NCTA contact
www.fivecolleges.edu/fcceas
• Bryant College China Institute
www.china.bryant.edu
• SPICE catalog
www.spice.stanford.edu/catalog

30. Other Resources
• Asia for Educators, Columbia University
afe.easia.columbia.edu
Great web resources and online professional development
• Education about Asia Magazine, AAS
www.asian-studies.org/eaa
40 back issues are archived on the web for free!
Current subscriptions - $30 for 3 issues/year

31. The Choices Approach
• Student-Centered
• Incorporates latest
Scholarship
• Multiple Perspectives
• Meets Common Core
• Historical Thinking
Skills and Civic
Literacy

32. Going Digital
iTextbooks allow students to:
• Swipe through photo
collections
• Watch videos
• Highlight text
• Take notes
• Search for content
• Look up key terms
www.choices.edu/iTextbooks

33. Institutes…. Spread the word
Each Summer
The Choices Program
Watson Institute for International Studies
www.choices.edu
The 1960s: Upheaval at Home and Abroad
2013 Summer Leadership Institute
July 8-12, 2013
Applications are available at www.choices.edu
Application deadline is Friday, March 15, 2013.
Open to all secondary social studies teachers. Language arts teachers, media specialists, and
community college professors may also apply. Housing, meals and materials are provided.
Participantspaytravel toandfromProvidence, RI.
Civil rights, Vietnam, upheaval and protest. e1960s wereatimeof intensivesocial changeand
uncertainty in theUnited States. Whilethecivil rightsmovement challenged thesystem of racial
segregation and discrimination at home, the Vietnam War challenged Americans’ perceptions
about therole of theUnited States in world a airs. Participantswill consider how the civil rights
movement and theVietnam War in uenced thistumultuousperiod of U.S. history, changing our
nation forever.
Instituteparticipantswill:
Hear lecturesfrom top historiansand social scientists
Engage in curricular sessions on how Choices meets common core standards and fosters
historical thinkingskills
Re neoutreach strategiesfor sharingtheir knowledgewith other educators
By April 8
The Choices Program
Watson Institute for International Studies
www.choices.edu/pd/geo-2013
Thinking Geographically About International Issues:
The Choices Approach
June 26-28, 2013
Applications are available at www.choices.edu
Application deadline is Monday, April 8, 2013.
Brown University’sChoicesProgram invitessecondary level geography teachersto apply for a2013Summer Institutethat
focuseson usingtheChoicesapproach and curricular materialsto ask What isWhere, Why, andSoWhat?
Usingthescholarship and lessonsfound in our eUnited Statesin Afghanistan unit asaspringboard, theInstitutewill
explorehow theChoicesapproach and curriculamaterialscan beimplemented to develop geographically literatestudents,
capableof askingand answeringthebigquestionsin geography.
egoal of theInstituteisto build acommunity of educatorsdedicated to sharingbest practicesfor usingChoices
materialsand approach to teach about international issuesthrough ageographic lens.
Participantswill:
Bene t from content–rich presentationsby university geographers;
Beimmersed in theChoicesapproach to teachingabout contested international issuesthrough presentations,
curricular modeling, and discussions;
Sharebest practicesand approachesfor addressingcomplex international issueswith other educatorsfrom
acrossthecountry; and
Develop plansto sharestrategies, resources, and insightsgained from theInstitutewith other geography
educators.
Housing, meals, Choicescurriculum units, and a20-hour certi cateof completion areprovided.
ereisnofeefor theInstitute, but participantsarerequiredtocover their owntravel toandfromProvidence, RI.
Participantsareexpectedtoconduct outreachactivitiesuponcompletionof theInstitute.Choiceswill providematerials
for theseactivities.

34. Thank You!
• Preview a copy of any
unit(s)…. Just ask!
• Picture of catalog here.