Week 3: Kelin Tham-Graul A03

In “Hmong Does Not Mean Free: The Miseducation Of Hmong Americans,” Kaozong N. Mouavangsou addresses the relationship between Hmong Americans and the US education system, revealing the negative impacts on Hmong communities. One of the issues is that students are taught from the lens of the dominant culture, resulting in exclusion of Hmong people from historical and modern narratives. The US education system is constructed with privileged groups in mind, and marginalized groups are therefore overlooked. Often, white men are perceived as “standard,” and people assume that everyone shares the same needs with them. This misconception reminded me of how in science and psychology, studies often focus on white men, and scientists use these findings to extrapolate regarding humans in general. This can be detrimental for marginalized groups—for example, with many medical conditions, symptoms for groups such as women are often understudied. Likewise, it seems that the education system caters to the needs of white and especially white male students without considering groups like Hmong Americans and “how a US education may have negative impacts on the Hmong community” (Mouavangsou, 2016, p. 13).

Regarding the impact of education, something that stood out to me was the word choice used when describing “power of the US educational system” (Mouavangsou, 2016, p. 11). I found it insightful and surprisingly accurate to describe its influence as power, because although this is used in the context of how education has a powerful influence on one’s future, I believe that this word is accurate in multiple ways considering the power that the educational system holds over society. Mouavangsou also addresses the issue of internalized blame, mentioning that Hmong students have come to blame themselves and their own culture rather than blaming the system. However, it is important to consider that if an individual does not succeed under a certain system, maybe the problem is not with the person, but with the system itself.

Question: Mouavangsou says that “the educational system must balance the goals of teaching skills that youths will need to succeed in adulthood and of instilling the values of the society in which it is located” (Mouavangsou, 2016, p. 5). How successful is the American educational system in doing this, and is this the purpose that education should serve?

References:

Mouavangsou, K. N. (2016). Hmong Does Not Mean Free: The Miseducation of Hmong Americans. Retrieved October 08, 2017.

Peschges, A. (2013, April 10). Hmong American Student’s Association Group (4). Retrieved October 08, 2017, from http://news.winona.edu/3451/ib-tsev-neeg-ii-one-family-ii/hmong-american-students-association-group-4/