Cham Cultural Heritage in Cambodia

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Cham Cultural Heritage in Cambodia

Young Cham students looking at a book.

Author: Matt O'Donnell
Grade: 10

Suggested Amount of Time: 120 minutes
Area of Study: Introduction to Cambodian History

Compelling Question
  • How does learning about Cambodian history promote a greater understanding of Cambodian American experiences?
Lesson Question

  • How can the Cham people, as an ethnic minority, maintain their cultural identity in Cambodia?

Lesson Objective

Students will gain an understanding of the Cham people of Cambodia including their cultural heritage, and the challenges they have faced and continue to face as an ethnic minority.  

Lesson Background

The Cham people are an ethnic minority in Cambodia making up about two percent of the total population. Most of the Cham people practice Islam and maintain their cultural identity through their own distinct language and traditions while living in a country that is predominantly Buddhist and Khmer speaking. The Cham have faced multiple challenges throughout history in Cambodia, especially during the period of Khmer Rouge.

Image Citation: File:Kids Studying - Cham Muslim Village - Tonle Bet Commune - Kampong Cham - Cambodia (48345486182).jpg - Wikimedia Commons. (2019, July 22). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kids_Studying_-_Cham_Muslim_Village_-_Tonle_Bet_Commune_-_Kampong_Cham_-_Cambodia_%2848345486182%29.jpg 

Handouts
Readings
  • Cham Culture and History 
  • Cham in Cambodia 
Videos
  • Cambodian Muslims seek justice for genocide 
  • Cambodia's Cham: Between Modernity and Tradition 
  1. Warmup (five minutes)
  • The teacher will ask students to get in pairs and discuss the following questions:
    • What makes a group of people a minority in a country?
    • What challenges do you think minorities might face?
    • What are some local examples of challenges ethnic minorities face in our community?
  • The teacher can select a few students to share highlights from their discussions.
  1. Introduction to the Cham People (seven minutes)
  • The teacher will explain to the class that they will be learning about an ethnic minority in Cambodia. The teacher should show the beginning of this video: “Cambodia's Cham: Between Modernity and Tradition" (Documentary by Germain Priour) https://youtu.be/ofIwaF_PcYs?feature=shared up until the 6:25 mark to give the students a brief overview of the Cham people.  
  • Students should list at least five facts about the Cham in their notes as they watch the video clip. When the clip is finished the teacher should ask the students to share some of the facts they wrote down.
  1. Student Inquiry (15 minutes)
  • The teacher will divide the class into groups of four and explain their inquiry task. Each group will need to make an infographic on the Cham people based on the research they will be doing. An infographic is a visual representation of a topic that combines many elements including icons, pictures, text and data to present complex information clearly. An infographic should be visually appealing and easy to understand. 
  • The teacher will give each student a copy of the infographic handout with directions and inquiry topics. The infographic should focus on information about the Cham people in Cambodia and include each of the following topics: Cham traditions, Cham religion, Cham language, Cham history overview (including the genocide), and challenges the Cham face including religious freedom and cultural preservation.
  • The teacher will instruct the students to decide what each member of the group will conduct research. They should create a plan to research all of the listed topics.
  1. Infographic Design (20 minutes)
  • When the students have finished their research, they should make a hand-drawn sketch of their infographic.
  • The teacher should check in with each group and offer feedback based on the draft sketch of the infographic.
  • When the teacher approves the sketch the students can then use a digital tool to make their infographic. Popular infographic tools include Canva, Piktochart, Visme, Easel.ly and Adobe Express.  
  1. Infographic Gallery Walk (20 minutes)
  • Each group will print out their infographic or display it on a computer. One member of each group will present the information on their infographic while the other three members visit another group. During the presentation the students from the visiting group will fill out at least one post-it with feedback on the infographic. Feedback can start with: “I liked…, I didn’t understand…, or have you considered…”
  • After five minutes, students move to a different group and switch presenters.  
  • Complete four rotations so everyone in the group has presented once and given feedback to three other groups.
  1. Self-Assessment and Reflection
  • Have students complete the Self Assessment and Reflection Handout.

Students will complete a self assessment with a reflection on their research, collaboration, and learning in this inquiry lesson. The infographic they create will demonstrate their understanding of Cham culture and heritage and issues minorities face in Cambodia.

Engagement: Consider the following method to support with lesson engagement:

  • Vary activities and sources of information so that they can be:
    • Personalized and contextualized to learners’ lives
    • Culturally relevant and responsive

Representation: Consider the following method to support with multiple means of representation:

  • Activate or supply background knowledge
    • Anchor instruction by linking to and activating relevant prior knowledge (e.g., using visual imagery, concept anchoring, or concept mastery routines)

Action and Expression: Consider the following method to support in presenting their learning in multiple ways:

  • Support planning and strategy development
    • Embed prompts to stop and think before acting as well as adequate space
    • Embed prompts to show and explain your work (e.g., portfolio review, art critiques)
    • Provide checklists and project planning templates for understanding the problem, setting up prioritization, sequences, and schedules of steps

For additional ideas to support your students, check out the UDL Guidelines at CAST (2018) http://udlguidelines.cast.org.

Emerging: Consider the following method to support with emerging students

  • Writing: Require students to label visuals 

Expanding: Consider the following method to support with expanding students

  • Writing: Provide rubrics and exemplars to scaffold writing assignments
    • Using mentor text - Text written by authors used to analyze craft, a particular writing style, word usage, structure, etc.

Bridging: Consider the following method to support with bridging students

  • Writing: Require academic writing and the use of target academic vocabulary
    • Apply domain­-specific vocabulary and general academic vocabulary in open sentence frames to perform functions, like describing or explaining, that target specific grammatical structures.

For additional guidance around scaffolding for multilingual learners, please consult the following resources:

  1. For further exploration on Cham history, students could research about the Cham uprising during the time of the Khmer Rouge. 
  2. Students can research current Cambodian government policies regarding Cham education.

AFP News Agency. 2011, July 17. Cambodian Muslims seek justice for genocide [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-YyjVOICR0

Britt, K. 2020c, May 11. English learner toolkit of strategies. California County Superintendents. https://cacountysupts.org/english-learner-toolkit-of-strategies/

California Department of Education & English Learner Support Division. 2012. California English Language Development standards (Electronic Edition) kindergarten through grade 12 (F. Ong & J. McLean, Eds.). California Department of Education. https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/er/documents/eldstndspublication14.pdf

California Educators Together. (n.d.). ELA / ELD framework. https://www.caeducatorstogether.org/resources/6537/ela-eld-framework

CAST. 2018. The UDL guidelines. http://udlguidelines.cast.org

Killean, R., Hickey, R., Moffett, L., Viejo Rose, D., So, F., & Orn, V. 2018. Cham: Culture & History Story of Cambodia. Documentation Center of Cambodia.

Meta House. 2021, March 12. Cambodia’s Cham: “Between Modernity and Tradition” (Documentary by Germain Priour) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofIwaF_PcYs

Minority Rights Group. 2024, January 29. Cham in Cambodia - Minority rights group. https://minorityrights.org/communities/cham/

San Diego County Office of Education. (n.d.). Providing appropriate scaffolding. https://www.sdcoe.net/educators/multilingual-education-and-global-achievement/oracy-toolkit/providing-appropriate-scaffolding#scaffolding

Tulare County Office of Education. (n.d.). Strategies for ELD. https://commoncore.tcoe.org/Content/Public/doc/Alpha-CollectionofELDStrategies.pdf 

Supplementary Sources:

Bolding, G. 2023, January 10. The Cham Uprising - Lessons from History - Medium. Medium. https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/the-cham-uprising-a0c8af35db45

Marimas Hosan Mostiller 2021 The Nexus of Asian Indigeneity, Refugee Status, and Asian Settler Colonialism in the Case of Indigenous Cham Muslim Refugees, Amerasia Journal, 47:1, 112-118, DOI: 10.1080/00447471.2021.1990001 

Model Curriculum

Cambodian American Studies

Standard(s)

HSS 10.10.1 RI.9-10.1 W.9-10.6

Grade(s)

Grade 10