About TEA
History and Mission:
The mission of the Program for Teaching East Asia (TEA) is to enhance and expand teaching and learning about East Asia in U.S. K-12 education. TEA was established in 1985 as the Rocky Mountain Japan Project and became the Program for Teaching East Asia in 1998 with generous funding from the Freeman Foundation to undertake programs focusing on China as well as Japan. In 2001, TEA moved to the University of Colorado at Boulder. TEA is affiliated with the University's Center for Asian Studies.
TEA conducts national, regional, and state projects for teachers and students. TEA's main projects include the China Project, the Japan Project, the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA), and the Colorado Consortium for Teaching about East Asia (CCTEA). These projects focus on curriculum development, professional development for teachers, and curriculum consultation and reform related to East Asia in K-12 education. Specific project activities include workshops, seminars, annual summer institutes, and study tours for teachers.
In addition to its projects, TEA also offers educators in the western United States a large curriculum resource center that includes teaching units for elementary and secondary levels; CD-roms; videos including documentaries and films; a collection of Japanese woodblock prints; a collection of kamishibai (Japanese children's story boards); books of scholarship, literature, and children's literature; and artifact trunks. TEA staff are available for consultation on curriculum and material selection.
The Program for Teaching East Asia is supported by a full time staff of research faculty with expertise in Asian Studies and K-12 education. Graduate research assistants and undergraduate interns also support projects such as the It's Elementary Service Project. TEA also works with academic faculty members from the University of Colorado at Boulder and from institutions across the country. Faculty offer scholarship on a variety of topics on East Asia at workshops, summer institutes, and in association with study tours to Japan and China.
