Navigating a Curriculum of American Exceptionalism: An Asian American Child’s Story

Abstract

What should U.S. schools teach about U.S. actions abroad when students in the classroom have varied or conflicting memories, ideas, and experiences? Should schools teach the dominant narrative of U.S. benevolence and innocence in world affairs so as to instill patriotism in children? What kind of patriotism are we concerned with here? Or should schools teach the dominant narrative because counterstories that disrupt American exceptionalism are too difficult? For whom are the counterstories difficult? Whose cognitive or emotional well being are we concerned with here? I explored these questions as a parent–researcher, inquiring how my child, an Asian American elementary student, makes sense of the conflicting accounts of U.S. history she receives at home and school.