| CONTENTS Discussing: Contemporary Issues Challenging: Women Issues Reading: Research Article Learning: History Guessing: Proverbs & Riddles Studying: Literature Visiting: Photo Gallery Admiring: Art Gallery Listening to: Hmong Radios Enjoying: Tales for Children Taking: Courses of Cult & Language |
| Trilingual Website Français English Hmoob Index/Themes Index/Year |
 |
| Professional Background Hobbies Consultation Service Rules Website Spirit Copyrights 2002 to Kao-Ly Yang All rights reserved. |
| CONTEMPORARY ISSUES The Excellence in Education for the Hmong Community Kao-Ly Yang, Ph.D. Keywords: education, higher education, leadership, community awareness, community development, social disenchantment, ideology of pioneer, identity issues. What do the Hmong leaders of America want as development for their community in the coming years? A community without any real competence, lacking appropriate professional skills? A community with social issues incapable to really promote the growth of the Hmong community that is considered as the poorest population and one of the youngest community with about 69% under 24 years old in the United States (census 200)? Or a community with strong professional skills with bilingual skills? It is questionning when observations and practices demonstrate that most of the current professionals in the educational system really lack vision, knowledge and academic skills on both cultures, e.g. their own culture and language and cultures, languages and the system of the Maintream society. It is such a sensitive issue, difficult to deny. There is indeed need to increase awareness among the intellectuals so that the old generation accepts to promore more excellence in their expectation from students, professionals, and the younger generation, more bilinguals and bicultural skills in order to be the most efficient in their profession. Because most of you could not just make exam easy, accessible in order to have more Hmong people, but who will lack competency in workplaces. In the short term, everyone is happy of the outcomes; however, in the long term, there will be consequences on the capacity of training, mentoring and supporting new generations. The Hmong people do not have institutions to keep their culture, memory, or past. The training of each generation must require the best and most complete training in order to build a group of elites to be the guardians of the culture and language. It is important for them to have bi-cultural skills. ____________________ Two emails about the excellence in education Sunday 6th May, 2001 Kao-Ly wrote: Hi Friends and relatives, Learning to live together, to share some ideas, to fill the gaps of understanding in the Hmong current issues seems being the primary mission. There is need to provide meanings to events, terms, intellectual understanding because al of us need to know where, when the wind will turn away in our community. In this following paper, there are my comments on the paper of Yang Sao Xiong (Yaj Saub Xyooj) and Tsav Lis Yaj's comments on Yang's text. "Education", "high level of education", "new generations of young" and "compassionate leaders", "number of doctors", "rich and prosper Hmong in the Western", "preservation of the Hmong culture", "adaptation to the modern lifestyle", "be aware of our heritage and double culture", and so and so. These expressions are keywords to think of our experiences for many of us. But what could we do to achieve these goals, dreams, hopes or statements (Each expression may depend more on whom sets up the line of horizon to dare dreaming, criticizing or murmuring)? I would like to comment on what my brother said on Yang Sao's text (See below for TsavLis' comments). What kind of features must (or should?) leaders possess? What kind of higher education must (or should?) they have and acquire? When I was student, I learnt from a French medical doctor - and later, minister of health-that in the education that a child must have, there must be - not only the useful knowledge such as writing, reading, sciences - but also "not immediately useful- otherwise futile" knowledge such as music, languages like Latin, Greek. These fields of knowledge could be very useful; they may be wonderful handbrake to "wake up" the curiosity of the children, to increase their joy to learn so that they will develop their self-esteem, satisfaction, understanding in relation with the past, the present and the future as a continuum of meanings. These skills combined with accurate knowledge are very important to form real good leaders who will acquire vision of action. I deeply believe that this philosophy of life will bring knowledge and excellence in educating the mind and the heart for Hmong people. To prepare the next young generations of Hmong leaders, there is need to learn more than what it is taught at school. Young people need to travel not only in time -I mean to seek their roots, to study other cultures, lifestyles and ways of thinking, to see the beautiful, the ugly, the futile, the useful or the fundamental, to feel how other people perceive womanhood or manhood in such or such culture. They also need to travel in the space by going throughout the world, learning not only Hmong culture - but the various cultures existing in different countries -so that they will know how to cultivate the garden of knowledge, of compassion, of pleasure to learn by joy. In summary, parents should educate their children in seeking the quality and the excellence in education at the same time transmitting ethics, sense of responsibility and respect, and awareness of interdependence. I have so many things to say, but I need time. Should I follow the move of awareness of the Hmong people? I hope this thought written on a Sunday morning will open you some doors to reflection, and make you awake to a warm and happy desire to become more professional. Hopefully, you will now understand why there is NO need to count the number of doctors because it doesn't mean excellence and quality in education even if a title is sometimes a good introduction. Have a nice Sunday. Nkauj Hli Edited on 04/12/05 Tsav Lis wrote: Hli, This is good information to have. Thank you for sharing it. This is my opinion. These issues have been the Hmong community's issues ever since 1976. Sao has done a good job on break it down to the different level. Also he had done well in bring it up to our attention. Here is the thing, the approach that we are using right now is not effective because 1. We are not reaching the right group of people. 2. Hmong people are not considered "professional people" yet. 3. We, the young and educated, are the minority of the Hmong population. Let me throw in an example: A Hmong leader (applies to both male and female) works very hard from the bottom up to the top. He/She now makes good money with good reputation. He/She is the only educated or smart person in the clan. He/She is well known in the communities of American and Hmong. BUT suddenly, he/She has an affair. Or corrupted, or abused the communities. What is this mean? I am not yet seeing an honest leader in the Hmong community. Why is that? Because please refer back to my 3 items above. I understand the habits of the Hmong male. Of course, it will be difficult to break these habits because it has been around for thousand of years. At the same time, Hmong people in general were not warmed of these changes. This is one of the reasons that made it so such harder for Hmong men to change their ways of doing things. To get back to my point about not getting to the right group of people: I supported the idea of national conference to better the Hmong community but I know that it will never have much of an impact, except the attendance. Reality, it's not working in the Hmong community because we are streamline different then the mainstream culture. So here I go again in relating to your national conference idea. 1. The attendance person (son, daughter, cousin, nephew, niece, aunt, and uncle) is to commit to come back and share it directly to the clan (family). For this process, it must be related (educated) downward in the order of the family chain line in a very professionnal way until it gets to the bottom group of the family. Just think of yourself, did you share anything that you learned from a recent conference with your family or clan members? So the most important tool of improving this change is "communication" or you can say "education" A side note: when talking to older generation of Hmong people (women and men) we need not to mention the word "education" because of status. On the other hand, we can nicely say, "I would like to update you on this area of.... in the Hmong community." By the way, to make it works, every single individual must put on their professional hats and start to communicate with their family members of the different clan levels. Effort and commitment is the key to minimize this change. Again, I am not taking side here, the message I am sending here is to say that we all must look both side and use our best judgment to bring peace into the community. For the young and, maybe, not so educated (cov tub txawj tiam sis tseem tsis tau ntse txaus), we don't want to be the next African American in the U.S. here. When there is no identity, our souls will be lost forever. May God or Yawm Saub bless us as a Nation, one for all and all for one. Cha Lee Yang (Tsav Lis Yaj) Fresno California Updating: 10/28/2003 Copyright © 2002 Kao-Ly Yang All rights reserved. All opinions expressed here are the ones of the respective authors. |
| TOPICS OF 2003 Janvier Kuv phooj ywg tus zoo tshaj Mon meilleur ami My Best Friend February Neeg no yeej paub tsis tag txog nws tus kheej Essai: commentaire et analyse du texte d'Alain "L'homme est obscur à lui-meme" Essay: Comment and analysis of the text of the French Philosopher Alain "Human Being is obscure to itself" February (Guest Writer: Zhang Xiao) Hmoob suav thiab Hmoob poob teb chaw puas yog tib pab t ib pawg neeg? Le fondement et les caractéristiques de l'identité miao et hmong Common basis and characteristics of the Miao and the overseas Hmong Identity April Maiv thawj tug hlub Le premier amour de May May's First Love August Poj niam kev mus ntseeg ntuj La raison de conversion des femmes hmong au christianisme A Hmong Women's Reason to Convert to Christianity Poj niam kev yeej pheej xaiv coj kev ntseeg La problématique de la liberté de croyance chez les femmes Women's Issues on Freedom of Beliefs September Kev ntsuas thiab luj khoom Quelques systèmes de mesure et de pesée Traditional Systems of Measuring and of Weighing October Paj huam hais txog cov neeg laus kev sib hlub Une histoire d'amour du troisième âge A Piece of Hmong Elderly Love November Niam Nkauj Ntsuab Paj Nra Yaj Miss Hmong Pada Yang November Kev cob qhia poj niam hmoob rov los pab haiv neeg hmoob Encouragement pour les femmes hmong aux actions collectives Encouragement for the Hmong Women to Collective Actions November Keeb Kwm Tsim txoj cai AB78 Histoire de la proposition de loi AB78 History of the Assembly Bill AB78 November Kev sib cog lus ua niam txiv sib hlub mus tas ib txhis Contract de mariage entre Nushilong et Gaojoua Marriage contract between Nusheelong and Gaojua Vim licas Saub tsis nrog hmoob nyob? Pourquoi Shao a t-il abondonné les Hmong? Why did Shao leave the Hmong people? November 24 Hmoob cov teeb meem cov loj tshaj rau xyoo 2000 Analyse des problématiques des Hmong Américains-recensement de 2000 Analysis of Hmong American most sensitive issues - Census 2000 December Kuv kev ntshaw rau peb Hmoob rau lub xyoo tshiab 2004 Mes souhaits de bonne année pour 2004: devenir conscient(e) des besoins d'éduquer une nouvelle génération de Hmong intellectuels My Wish for 2004: Becoming Aware of the Need to raise a New Generation of Hmong Intellectuals |