Engaging children with Asian literature: stories from Tasmania

This article is based on a research project funded by the University of Tasmania, titled: 'An Investigation into Teachers' Use of Asian Literature'. In preparing for this research, we investigated the academic literature about both Asian literature and teachers' responses to the cross-curriculum priority. Two central problems were raised in respect to these ideas. The first issue was that of representation of Asian peoples and cultures in literature, and the second related issue, was teachers' uncritical acceptance of this representation. To investigate exactly what teachers were doing, we conducted a national survey on teachers' selection and approaches to Asian literature, followed by in depth interviews with Tasmanian teachers from early childhood, primary, secondary and senior secondary classrooms.