The Program for Teaching East Asia (TEA) at the Center for Asian Studies conducts national, regional and state projects designed to enhance and expand education about China, Japan and Korea at the elementary and secondary school levels. Specific projects focus on curriculum development, professional development for teachers, and curriculum consultation and reform related to Asia in K-12 education.

TEA conducts national, regional, and state projects for K-12 teachers and students. TEA’s current projects include the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA); the China Project, the Japan Project and the Korea Project. Specific project activities include an annual offering of online seminars and workshops; annual summer institutes and occasional study tours in East Asia for teachers.

Colorado Programs for Teachers
Colorado teachers are eligible to apply for all TEA national programs. Depending on current funding, TEA also may offer workshops for teachers within driving distance of Boulder and classroom outreach in the Denver-Boulder Metro Area.

TEA E-News for Educators
TEA publishes a monthly online newsletter designed to alert K-12 teachers to TEA programs as well as other state, regional and national programs for elementary-secondary teachers and students. Separate sections of the E-News highlight Colorado events and opportunities, national events and opportunities, TEA programs and recommended teaching resources. Teachers may subscribe to the TEA E-News.

TEA Resource Library for K-12 Educators. (This service is currently on hiatus pending an upcoming move.)
In addition to its projects, TEA also offers educators in the western United States a large curriculum resource center that includes teaching units for elementary and secondary levels, documentaries and feature films, a collection of Japanese woodblock prints, a collection of kamishibai (Japanese children’s story boards), books of scholarship, literature and children’s literature and artifact trunks. TEA staff are available for consultation on curriculum and materials selection.

Special Programming
TEA occasionally receives funding to conduct additional programming that meets emerging needs and/or audiences in the field of K-12 East Asian studies education. Recent examples include workshops on “K-Pop Revolution” and “Two Koreas: Past and Present” funded by the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea at San Francisco and an interactive writing project, “Understanding the Impact of COVID in China and the U.S. through Literature and Writing” TEA is currently working on a project titled “Teaching Elementary Science through Asian Elementary Picture Books,” which will include a Denver-based workshop, an online course and classroom outreach.

• UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF COVID IN CHINA AND THE U.S. THROUGH LITERATURE AND WRITING

  Additional Info

  TEA worked with CU faculty and ten Colorado secondary teachers to introduce middle and high school students to the book "Wuhan Diaries: Dispatches from a Quarantined City," by the accomplished Chinese author Fang Fang. The program investigated themes of anti-Asian racism and the impact of COVID-19 on different populations.

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  Location

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  Ongoing

  Online Resource

  https://www.colorado.edu/ptea/programs/understanding-impact-covid-19-china-and-us-through-literature-and-writing

• TEA-NCTA ONLINE COURSES

  Additional Info

  NCTA supports online courses ranging in length from four to 30 hours. Formats include seminars, book studies, and contemporary issues courses. Online courses are open to teachers nationally. The interactive online format, integrating live discussions with asynchronous discussion boards in many cases, encourages a community of inquiry among educators who have a responsibility to teach about Asia.

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  Location

  Dates

  Ongoing

  Online Resource

  https://www.colorado.edu/ptea/