Underrepresented Asian Americans: How to create curriculum for teachers who may know nothing about us

• In Event: Unforgetting Ethnic Studies’ Radical Roots when Developing Curriculum on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

Abstract

Purpose
This paper presents curriculum design strategies for teaching underrepresented Asian American histories—specifically Indian Americans, Bangladeshi Americans, and Asian American communities in the U.S. South. Our work resists the conflation of community identities, like South Asian or Muslim Americans, with racialized stereotypes. We aim for students from these communities to see themselves reflected in the classroom and to support educators—especially those unfamiliar with these histories—in teaching them with care, accuracy, and cultural humility. In doing so, we aim to expand the boundaries of “Asian America” and challenge the ongoing erasure of our families, geographies, and struggles.

Pedagogical Frameworks
Our curriculum is grounded in the Centering the Margins framework, which challenges educators to start with the voices and struggles that have been excluded from dominant narratives.

To address a common educator concern—how to engage students with histories outside their own backgrounds—we frame lessons around shared human experiences while maintaining the specificity of each community’s context. We use three key strategies:
1. Compelling Questions and Universal Themes: Each lesson begins with questions, such as “What does it mean to belong?” or “Who gets to tell our history?” These invite all students to enter the lesson through their own lived experiences, even as they learn about unfamiliar communities.
2. Storytelling and Testimonios: We center personal narratives, oral histories, and community storytelling to humanize the curriculum. These narratives show history as lived and shaped by real people.
3. Dialogic and Reflective Practices: Lessons include space for reflection, discussion, and application—such as comparing migration stories, analyzing media representation, or mapping family histories.

The goal is not identity-based “relating,” but developing historical empathy, critical consciousness, and shared responsibility for justice.

Curriculum Sharing
We will share original curriculum modules and lesson plans that center:
● Indian American labor and migration histories, including early Sikh farmers in California and the political activism of Ghadar Party revolutionaries.
● Bangladeshi American experiences, particularly the nuanced colonial history of the diaspora, navigating intersectional identities, and the legacy of movements for self-determination.
● Asian American life in the U.S. South, including Vietnamese, Indian, and Bangladeshi communities in Texas, Georgia, and North Carolina—regions where growing Asian American populations remain hyper-invisible in both curriculum and public discourse.

Learnings & Findings
Educators are eager but often underprepared to teach beyond dominant Asian American narratives. When offered curriculum grounded in community stories and critical inquiry, teachers gain confidence—and students express deep appreciation for finally seeing their families, languages, and neighborhoods represented. This work resonates broadly with students exploring visibility, belonging, and power.

Reflections & Significance
In an era of educational censorship, curriculum bans, and rising xenophobia, this work is urgent. Teaching underrepresented Asian American stories is not just about inclusion—it is truth, justice, and resistance. This curriculum equips educators to teach responsibly and radically, even when they are “starting from scratch.” In alignment with AERA 2026’s theme of Unforgetting Histories and Imagining Futures, this project insists that we expand who counts in the story of America—and who gets to tell it.

Authors

• Maharaj Desai, California State University - East Bay

• Cheralen Arroyo Valdez, University of California - Santa Cruz

• Asra Ziauddin