Back to the Future via Fund for Teachers

Vincent Pham (The International High School at Prospect Heights – Brooklyn) designed a 2024 Fund for Teachers fellowship to go back and go forward. He spent the month of August in Southeast Asia, researching his heritage to model resilience for students sharing his experiences as a refugee arriving in the United States. The following piece is an amalgamation of Vincent’s grant proposal and fellowship reflections drawn from his Instagram account, vincent.q.pham.

My parents, Vietnamese boat people who came to the U.S. in the late 1980s through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ resettlement initiative, were extremely cagey about sharing their memories of growing up in Vietnam with me. They lived through decades of conflict as Vietnamese forces fought against the French, the U.S., and even among themselves. Thus, their memories of Vietnam were marred by postwar poverty and having to leave behind family and friends as they fled the country.

In fact, they only began opening up to me after I received a Fulbright student fellowship to live and teach in Vietnam. Not only did they introduce me to family members still living in Vietnam, they also contemplated the challenges and triumphs of navigating the U.S. as teenagers with limited English. In return, I discussed with my parents about how my teaching and traveling experiences in Vietnam were similar or different from what they remembered. Consequently, I realized that to be a culturally relevant educator for a multicultural classroom, I needed to find ways to foster global interconnectedness.

After several more stints of teaching abroad, my personal and professional context influenced me to return to the U.S. to work in the nation’s largest and most diverse school district. For the past seven years, I have taught a two-year cycle of 11th grade U.S. History and 12th grade Government and Economics at an urban, Title I public school (right) that serves recently arrived immigrant and refugee Multilingual Language Learners (MLLs). I am responsible for supporting college readiness and English language acquisition for students who come from 30 different countries. Many students come from nations that are or were recently impacted by wars and conflicts stemming from U.S. foreign policy decisions including El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Venezuela, and Yemen, with many coming as unaccompanied minors. We do not have a prescribed social studies curriculum at our school– teachers are empowered to implement whatever material and learning scaffolds that will best engage such a heterogeneous community.

Why Vietnam? Why Now?

As a social studies educator, I embrace the position that effective classroom teaching is inherently political and that it centers students’ lives when connecting to academic content. The classroom is NOT an escape from the politics and injustices of the world. Instead, it is a space in which the students, and teacher(s) collaborate to develop worldviews, skill sets, and self-affirmations to confront these challenges. Two years ago, I made the conscious decision to teach about how government policies amplify and/or rectify social inequities.

This subject matter evokes passionate (and oftentimes oppositional) opinions in my classroom, a testament to the wide-ranging cultural backgrounds and lived experiences that my students bring with them. Thus, I believe that if I challenge my students with such complex topics, I must provide them culturally expanding and rigorous learning opportunities to critically evaluate what they learn. That is why my 12th grade curriculum on U.S. foreign policy starts with Vietnam. At the unit’s conclusion, I share my family history with students to analyze how U.S. foreign policy has influenced the trajectory of my life. Although none of my students come from Vietnam, my unit’s themes of sociopolitical upheaval, family separation, and starting anew in a foreign land deeply resonate with them.

The Fellowship

The purpose of my fellowship was twofold:

1. Experience Vietnam’s war museums (such as The War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City – pictured right), local NGOs, and interview family members, and
2. Seek out former Vietnamese refugee camp sites in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines to obtain more primary sources and texts that center the Vietnamese experience and curate a more authentic curriculum.

This fellowship was especially relevant because my school district has partnered with a local university to assess gaps in the Asian American curriculum in our public schools. Southeast Asian history has been overlooked at the school and district level, which is why my Fund for Teachers grant will assist in filling in that void. With authentic artifacts and personal connection, I aspire to empower MLLs to love history and reflect on their own personal journeys to the United States.

Vietnam

My first stop (after a quick layover in Tokyo) were the Củ Chi Tunnels. This was a 200km network of tunnels outside of Saigon and most notably used by Vietnamese guerrillas in their fight for liberation against French colonial rule and U.S. imperialists. Through experiencing parts of the tunnels and learning about its tunnels through a Vietnamese tour guide, I was able to gain deep insights on how to frame Vietnamese resistance and integrate primary sources to my future curriculum.

These tunnels enabled covert operations (moving supplies and organizing troops) and even allowed the Ho Chi Minh trail (which went through Laos and Cambodia) to connect. Consequently, the U.S. devoted intense aerial bombing campaigns and even targeted ground pursuits (that’s where “tunnel rats” would go underground to find the Viet Cong).

Visiting historical places is a tangible way to learn about how the past influences the present. It is especially jarring and profound to navigate Hà Nội because infamous sites such as the Hỏa Lò Prison and the Khâm Thiên Street (below) are seamlessly intertwined with the residential neighborhoods and local businesses. Being able to visit these different places was crucial for me to think about how we can identify and analyze the history imbued in everyday spaces.

Singapore

While exploring Singapore, my wife Marcelle suggested that we stop in the National Archives of Singapore. What was supposed to be a short stay turned into a several hour research experience for me. I came across an enormous catalog of historical newspapers reporting on the Vietnamese boat people between 1975-1996. research I did to demonstrate how U.S. economic trade embargo and refusal to provide reconstruction aid to Vietnam surely exacerbated the suffering in Vietnam. Of course, the stories I have read and heard from my family about the chaos and struggles in the aftermath of the war cannot be dismissed, but I have the privilege to examine all this from a historical perspective. Nevertheless, it is vital to evaluate with empathy.

Pulau Galang, refugee camp located in the Riau Archipelago, near Singapore, was the first former refugee camp that I visited as part of my fellowship and I have to say, it was quite somber. In 1979, the Indonesian government and UNCHR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) established a camp for Vietnamese refugees. From 1979-1996, an estimated 250,000 Vietnamese boat people and asylum seekers from countries like Cambodia and Laos were temporarily accommodated while their potential refugee status and resettlement was being processed.

Experiencing the Galang Refugee Camp was haunting, as much of the area lies in ruins. Besides the relatively newly built Buddhist temple and some renovated gravestones placed in the cemetery by former camp residents or their relatives, there is much decay as the understaffed workers barely do much.

Malaysia

Pilau Bidong was the first refugee camp that my mother and most of her siblings resided upon their exodus from Vietnam. My research indicates that Pulau Bidong was only intended to host up to 4,500 people. However, the humanitarian crisis resulted in 18,000 people living there by January 1979. By June 1979, the numbers had crescendoed to 40,000 people living at a small camp on the south side of the island, which was no bigger than a football field. During that time Pulau Bidong came to be the most heavily populated place on earth. My mother and most of her siblings were part of these 40,000 people.

When the Pulau Bidong refugee camp was shut down in October 1991, the Malaysian government essentially tore down all the remaining shelters and material built by the Vietnamese. When I visited, I experienced the ghosts of the past via the makeshift burial grounds and plaques left behind by former Vietnamese boat people who came back to visit. This was an incredible historical and personal experience that I will be eternally grateful to Fund for Teachers for providing me the means to carry out this task. I cannot wait to integrate these visuals and videos into my unit to humanize the experience of people fleeing from sociopolitical upheaval.

The Philippines

I visited the Philippine Refugee Processing Center (PRPC), located in Bataan (roughly a 3-hour drive from Manila). This was the last refugee camp my mother and members of her family stayed at before transitioning over to the U.S. By the time the PRPC closed in 1995, an estimated 400,000 refugees had come through.

Unlike my previous refugee camp visits to Pulau Galang and Pulau Bidong, nearly all refugees were confirmed that they had been accepted to resettle in another nation. Consequently, the ESL education and vocational courses offered by the camp took on even deeper significance for the people.

Visiting this former refugee camp was the most inspirational and hopeful due to its history. Unlike the previously aforementioned refugee camps in Indonesia and Malaysia, the Filipino government has sought to revitalize the area surrounding the PRPC- the territory is now called Bataan Technology Park. There are many assigned workers who actively look after the area. The wonderful museum has excellent documentation of the refugee camp and experience- the photos and videos I took will serve as profound primary sources for my students to explore in the class.

PeaceTrees Vietnam

For so long, Vietnam has been defined by Americans by the war. However, we need to consider the ways that the Vietnamese people have addressed the legacies of American intervention. More importantly, I want to demonstrate how Vietnamese people are actively trying to move forward with their lives. Primarily based in the Quang Tri province, the #PeaceTrees organization began in 1995 (in Seattle of all places) as a humanitarian mission to remove landmines and cluster bombs in Vietnam’s most heavily bombed region. Land that has been cleared of explosive ordnance has been returned to Vietnamese ownership. In fact, many community centers and schools have been built on top of these lands to symbolize the repairing of American harm.

Thanks to mutual connections, I got the chance to visit the city of Dong Ha, and see the work being done firsthand. Not only did I get to see the maps demonstrating all the places that the organization has de-mined, I also got to attend their educational community outreach to ethnic minorities in Vietnam who are oftentimes the most at risk of encountering unexploded ordnance. It was especially incredible to witness the PeaceTrees team in Vietnam have 7am virtual meetings to accommodate the evenings in Seattle and then turnaround to conduct their educational outreach. I deeply admire their ethos.

My experience with PeaceTrees Vietnam was so memorable because this organization demonstrates that Vietnam’s postwar story is not just a chronicle of suffering and sorrow. Instead, it is a powerful story of resilience and empowering the local community to address their needs as they see fit. This is what I hope to impart to my immigrant students, to embrace the fact that their continued existence is powerful and worthy of celebration.”

Back To School

As the son of displaced people, my existence derives from the sociopolitical consequences of U.S. foreign policy. I believe that I must serve as a conduit between the past and present. Hence, my fellowship is deeply personal because I will not only delve further into my family history, but also the Vietnamese diaspora as well. I have been collaborating with Professor Christian Lentz of the University of North Carolina due to his research focus on Vietnam. Along with several other teachers, we will be submitting a piece to the American Historical Review. Our piece, scheduled for March 2025 publication, will focus on how high school teachers integrate scholarly sources and fieldwork to produce innovative pedagogy.

Additionally, as the only Southeast Asian individual in my school, I am compelled to contribute to the community’s global identity through educating about the nuances of this region’s history. My MLLs often tell me that they first learn about Southeast Asia through my unit about Vietnam. Teaching about Southeast Asia is crucial because my MLLs see how their diaspora and many Southeast Asian diasporic communities were formed in response to the forces of war, colonization, and imperialism. Ignoring Southeast Asia dismisses a significant critique of U.S foreign policy and obscures discussion of on-going struggles and triumphs of people affected by American intervention.

My lived histories as a child of refugees plays an important role in my school because I can dialogue with my students about the legacy of migration and resettlement. Moreover, I am empathic of how my MLLs’ cultural identities are in flux since I grew up navigating between American and Vietnamese cultures. Thus, the final part of my fellowship happens back in the classroom: intertwining these histories to my students and my pedagogy.

Vincent Pham is a National Board Certified educator at International High School at Prospect Heights in New York. As the son of Vietnamese refugees, he recognizes that education is political. Thus, for the past seven years, he has taught social studies and English as a New Language (ENL) to immigrant students. Other achievements include: a Teacher Advisory Council Member for the National Humanities Center, a mentor teacher for the Teacher Residency at Teachers College (Columbia University), the National Educators Association (NEA) Global Learning Fellowship (2023), a Pulitzer Teacher Center Fellow (2020), and Fulbright Fellow to Vietnam (2014). Listen to Vincent share part of his lived experience on The Moth Teacher Institute Story Slam here.