Education, Culture, and Society: Master's Capstone
By Hongyang Zhao
Welcome
to My Artifacts
Below you will find a collection of the projects and essays that I have completed for my master's degree. My works range from a website I designed with classmates to academic papers that reflect my commitment to a specific field. Each item comes with a short description and a clickable button that will send you to the original file.
SEL in Chinese Elementary Schools
This is a website I designed for School and Society. I chose to make this website because in China, there has been a lack of awareness of and access to SEL, which has proved to be an effective mental health intervention at schools that have a substantial population of left-behind children.
By showcasing the positive impact produced by current SEL programs on students at risk of mental distress, I argue for a more organic integration of SEL instruction into the existing curricula at rural elementary schools in China.
Asian Americans and the Great Education Myth
This is the final paper I wrote for History of American Education Reform. By examining the relationship between high-achieving Asian American families and the Education Myth, I argue that middle- and upper-class White people designed and used meritocracy to mold Asian Americans into 'honorable Whites' who sanctify and act on meritocratic values.
While I am critical of the current meritocracy in the US, I contend that it should not be completely abolished. Rather, it needs to be improved to ensure equity and accountability.
SEL and Personality Development during Adolescence
This is my final paper for Social & Personality Development. In the paper, I examine the potential of SEL interventions in addressing the personality difficulties confronted by adolescents. I first discuss the frameworks that historically have been used to understand personality during adolescence. Then, I make a case for SEL interventions based on the CASEL framework by discussing their relative strengths in addressing adolescent personality challenges.
SEL Module Plan (Social Awareness)
This is a module plan that consists of an introduction, a module outline, a set of curricular goals, a series of aligning activities, and a detailed description of one activity. It is based on the UBD framework for curriculum design and the CASEL framework for social-emotional learning. The module specifically addresses Social Awareness, which encompasses empathy-building and perspective-taking.
Family Engagement Project for Math Tutoring
The Math Tutoring class culminated in a math festival at the school and the family engagement project, in which the tutors present to parents what they have accomplished with their children throughout the semester and resources and activities that will allow the family to continue learning math at home. The project consists of an introduction to our work during the semester, an analysis of the tutee's strengths and areas for growth, a collection of math games that the tutee enjoyed, and additional resources that the family can use according to their needs.
Case Analysis Paper for Classroom Discourse
In the final paper for Classroom Discourse, I analyzed a teacher's instructional dilemma through the lenses of the banking model of education and teachers' discretionary spaces. Although I have not had too much teaching experience in the classroom, being able to look at real-life scenarios and apply the frameworks I learned in this class has been both intellectually challenging and stimulating. It is a useful task for would-be teachers like me who might encounter the same dilemmas in their teaching careers. Identifying the potential causes of the dilemma and the resources available to me is a crucial understanding that will serve me well in the long run.
