No Series: The Vietnam War -- How is it Taught in Vietnam?

The Vietnam War -- How is it Taught in Vietnam?

Lesson Objective: See how the Vietnam War is taught in Vietnamese high schools
Grades 9-12 / History / Vietnam War
27 MIN

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

  1. Hear about the Vietnamese perspective of this war and how the subject is taught. How is the perspective similar to and different from an American's?
  2. How could you incorporate these perspectives into your teaching of the Vietnam War?

5 Comments

  • Private message to Jose Perez
As an aspiring US History teacher, I have spent most of my life researching past American involvement in war. As a veteran, I immersed myself in literature corresponding to the World Wars, along with the Korea and Vietnam conflicts. Not once did I read anything from the perspective of the enemy. Save for some books on the Third Reich and Japan, it is easy to only stick on the side of your country. Watching this video made me realize that countries teach their citizens in different matter, depending on the outcome of the war. I believe is it important to understand how both sides felt about the conflict and how they compare to the of American curriculum.
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  • Private message to Kathleen Wylie
I came up with some themes I really noticed here- I am fascinated by this video! 1. What happens to a nation's history when it is influenced (dominated?) by imperialism and foreign influences? How do the people feel about their own history? Can we apply this concept to how African American may feel about our history? Do African America students struggle with our history in the same way? 2. How over-testing and history based on numbers, dates, and facts dominates these classrooms but they don't even understand the story of their neighbors' lives. Will that be us? It seems like we, as a nation, want to compete with the Asian schools and are looking to replicate them? 3. How we teach the Vietnam war vs how they teach the war vs how the war "really" happened as spoken by the people of the time? 4. The students at the end of the video CLAP for the teacher when he is done with his lecture!!! How can we get some of that business going on!
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  • Private message to Mr. Mike
Thank you for doing this. Once being an interested student of history I can only add that there needs to be more cooperation among teachers and staff at giving the students the "tools" to understand history throughout these grade levels. This would include the BASICS in world history; economics--contrasts between plunder and a monetary systems; basics in government and political systems; geography and local regional history ( British, French and others in empire building). One can add to this the concepts of secularism, nationalism, popularism, authoritarian and democratic regimes--into this context the discussion of why civil war erupts and its causes and justifications. Only then can one place Vietnam in this case into a historical perspective. Without these tools it is difficult to engage students who at this age develop different learning processes that now become hindered due to distractions at that age. As an American my perspective now at age 62 was American Empire building and the clash of economic cultures placed in a region that a civil war was occurring as a nation was moving from agrarian to industrial. I won't say anything about American "exceptionalism" fueled by greed, arrogance and the military industrial complex. These were the forces that placed politicians in America-- concerned more about public opinion for elections purposes and surrounded by others fearing world expansion of communism-- that led to a failed foreign policy. A sad period in American history that will be repeated elsewhere around the world. My sympathy to the Vietnamese.
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  • Private message to Julia Chope
Hi Anthony, Glad you are enjoying the videos! These videos were produced by Teachers TV in the UK. If you have any other questions or feedback feel free to use the Feedback button on the right side of the page.
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  • Private message to Anthony Bartolotta
Great video! It prompts a lot of different questions for students to consider. I noticed that there are a few other videos that seem to be produced by the same British organization. Can anyone comment on which organization it is? Thanks.
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