Introduction to Mental Health in Vietnamese American Resettlement

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Introduction to Mental Health in Vietnamese American Resettlement

The street of Hang Bai and Hang Khay (trays) in 1979

Author: Michelle Đặng-Pastore
Grades: 11-12

Suggested Amount of Time: 50 - 60 Minutes
Area of Study: Vietnamese Resettlement and Community Building

Compelling Question

  • What is Vietnamese America?

Lesson Questions
  • How did the experiences of Vietnamese civilians and soldiers during and after the Vietnam War impact their mental health? 
  • What struggles are shared with the immigrant experience in trying to achieve the American dream?
Lesson Objective

Students will analyze and reflect on the different types of traumas and challenges that Vietnamese civilians and soldiers experienced during the war and ways they rebuilt and coped with trauma by connecting Post Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms to subjects and completing an exit ticket.

Lesson Background

After the Fall of Sài Gòn in 1975, an estimated one million former Vietnamese soldiers of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) were imprisoned without formal charges or trials, and another one million took part in a mass exodus seeking asylum from the international community, and in the following decades, hundreds of thousands resettled in countries around the world. Both soldiers and civilians endured numerous political, socioeconomic, and psychological hardships from the after-effects of the war and the change in regime. Despite resettling in other parts of the world, the psychological effects remain. Consequently, intergenerational trauma is still prevalent within the Vietnamese American community.

This lesson contains content that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether the resources are suitable for their class and provide a content warning to their students at the beginning of the lesson. This lesson is to bring awareness to mental health and should not be used to diagnose mental health conditions. Trauma can be a tough topic to talk about. It can bring up memories of bad things that have happened to us, and it can make us feel sad, angry, or scared. If you are talking about trauma, it is important to set ground rules. These rules will help to make sure that everyone feels safe and respected. Please provide the appropriate content warning to students.

Image Citation: Migration Stories. (2023, January 17). The Vietnamese-American Dream - Migration Stories. https://migrationstories.domains.swarthmore.edu/portfolio/the-vietnamese-american-dream/ 

Ethnic Studies Theme

This lesson connects to the ethnic studies theme of power and oppression from the Asian American Studies Curriculum Framework (Asian American Research Initiative, 2022). Students will consider war, migration and imperialism as contexts shaping citizenship and racialization. Students discuss US foreign policy and impact of war on mental health and the intergenerational trauma within the Vietnamese community.

For additional guidance around ethnic studies implementation, refer to the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (2021) https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/esmc.asp.

Historical Thinking Skills

This lesson will facilitate student proficiency in cause and consequence one of Seixas’ historical thinking skills (Seixas & Morton, 2013). To help students to understand that there are short-term and long-term consequences of events. Students consider how change is driven by multiple causes, and results in multiple consequences. These create a complex web of interrelated short-term and long-term causes and consequences.

Supplies
  • Access to laptop devices
Videos
  • “Addressing mental health stigma in the Asian-American community” 
  • “What is PTSD?”
  • “War trauma and Vietnamese Americans: A first-its-kind study seeks to learn more” 
  • Oral History of Bích Ngọc Thị Nguyễn
  1. Anticipatory Set - Line of Comfort Activity (15 minutes)
  • Instruct students to stand (shoulder to shoulder), the teacher will then read the statement below. Instruct students to form a line based on how comfortable they feel about the statement below (1 to 10; 10 being MOST comfortable). Alternatively, this can be done using an online poll or small group discussion.
    • I feel comfortable talking about mental health.
  • Give students one minute to form their line by asking each other what comfort number they are at. Once the line is formed, give students two minutes to discuss with a peer standing next to them who shares their comfort number. Repeat three more times.
    • I feel comfortable talking about mental health with my peers.
    • I feel comfortable talking about mental health with adults.
    • I feel comfortable talking about mental health with my parents.
  • Have students return to their seats. Before proceeding, teachers should use the disclaimer to set the tone for a respectful conversation. 
  • Show: Video “Addressing mental health stigma in the Asian-American community” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az8pA8ocJ6Q 
    • Have students debrief with a partner:
      • What did we learn about our class and mental health?
      • What are some reasons for the mental health crisis in the Asian American Pacific Islander community?
      • This debrief should help students to understand and build relational capacity with each other. It should also address the stigma of talking about mental health, especially the challenges of having this conversation with adults in their lives.
  1. Share the lesson objective with the class. (2 minutes)
  2. Show the video from the American Psychiatric Association about PTSD. (2 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoJBvXAUvA8 
  • Check for understanding: Have students share with a partner which symptoms from the video they are MOST familiar with and where that knowledge came from. (2 minutes)
  1. Vocabulary Building
  • Display the four Symptoms of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) to the whole class. (four minutes) This can be displayed on the screen, or as a handout to students.
    • Teacher note: It may be beneficial to define mental health as our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. The concept of mental health may be foreign to some students, as this phrase may not exist in some languages.
  • Four Symptoms of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)
    • Intrusive Thoughts or Memory: Repetition of upsetting or scary flashbacks, involuntary memories, distressing dreams or nightmares.
    • Avoidance: Avoiding people, places, activities, objects, situations, thinking about the event, talking about the event.
    • Changes in Thoughts, Feelings, and Behaviors: Not remembering important parts of events, negative thoughts about themselves or others, distorted thoughts about the cause or consequences of the event, feeling fear, horror, anger, guilt, or shame, losing interest in activities they used to enjoy, detached from others, not being able to experience positive emotions.
    • Changes in Arousal and Reactivity: Easily irritated or angry, angry outbursts, being reckless or self-destructive, overly watchful of surroundings as if something bad will happen, easily startled, difficulty concentrating or sleeping.
  • Give students time to process the definitions. Teachers can do a read aloud of terms, or students can read with a partner and/or independently. 
  • Ask students which symptoms are they LEAST familiar with, if any.
  • Continue to display the four symptoms of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) while students complete partner work.
  1. Interaction with sources (15 minutes)
  • Students will work in pairs. Partner 1 will be assigned source 1, partner 2 will be assigned source 2. As students spend time with their assigned source, have them focus on the four symptoms of PTSD and take notes on the experiences of Vietnamese Americans that are consistent with any of the 4 symptoms. 
  • Source 1 ABC10 video (9:10 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfg__GvKZ4Q 
  • It would be helpful for teachers to model interacting with this source, and answering lesson questions.
  • Source 2 Bích Ngọc Thị Nguyễn Oral History (14:00-24:11) https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/81235/d8sn91/?order=0 or pdf transcript available here: https://ucdavis.box.com/s/91yk5jx15e4zlj1j1r768jczza3adrew 
  • Additionally, each student should collect notes on the lesson question for their assigned source:
    • How did the experiences of Vietnamese civilians and soldiers during and after the Vietnam War impact their mental health?
  1. Partner Debrief & Collect
  • Referring to the four symptoms of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), share from their notes some experiences that correspond with the four symptoms and lesson questions. Each student is responsible for understanding their source and relaying the important details to their peers, and vice versa. (seven minutes)
  1. Closure/Assessment: Ticket out the door Summary (7–10 minutes)
  • Write a summary discussing the main ideas below (the final product can be open to a written, visual, or audio narrative.):
    • How did the experiences of Vietnamese civilians and soldiers during and after the Vietnam War impact their mental health? Students can cite information from the PTSD notes and from the two sources. 
    • What struggles are shared with the immigrant experience in trying to achieve the American dream?

Students will generate their reflection on a ticket out-the-door summary discussing the main ideas below:

  • How did the experiences of Vietnamese civilians and soldiers during and after the Vietnam War impact their mental health? What struggles are shared with the immigrant experience in trying to achieve the American dream?
  • Engagement: Consider the following method to support with lesson engagement:
    • Create school-wide programs of positive behavior support with differentiated objectives and supports 
    •  Support activities that encourage self-reflection and identification of personal goals
  • Representation: Consider the following method to support with multiple means of representation:
    • Turn Closed Caption on for Source 1 and provide a printed transcript for Source 2
    • Pre-teach vocabulary and symbols, especially in ways that promote connection to the learners’ experience and prior knowledge 
    • Provide graphic symbols with alternative text descriptions
  • Action and Expression: Consider the following method to support in presenting their learning in multiple ways:
    • Provide a word bank for their ticket-out-the-door summary or make it a verbal summary
    • Provide graphic organizers and templates for data collection and organizing information 

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: Use Interactive Journals 
    • Writing: Require vocabulary notebooks with non-linguistic representations or L1 translations 
      • During integrated ELD, teachers may sometimes offer strategic primary language support for EL students who are newcomers or at the earliest level of Emerging proficiency.
  • Expanding: Consider the following method to support with expanding students:
    • Writing: Provide writing frames
      • When posing a question for discussion and writing, the teacher offers a coordinated response frame to support the use of particular grammatical structures and vocabulary.
  • 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. Deep Dive into PTSD - Students can create a pamphlet or infographic on PTSD to have a deeper understanding of this disorder; focusing on the symptoms, treatment, and where to get help. Students can also look into other mental health disorders and engage in a similar activity. The brochure or infographic can include a list of community organizations or school personnel that students can contact for support.
  2. Mental Health Professional - Students can find a mental health professional in their immediate community (school psychologist, counselor or other) and conduct an interview. They can ask about their profession and common trends they see within the student population or community at school. In the interview, students can also ask for general advice on maintaining a healthy state of mind. Students should be reminded to be respectful of individual cases and confidentiality of student information. 

American Initiative. 2022. Asian American Studies K-12 Framework.  https://asianamericanresearchinitiative.org/asian-american-studies-curriculum-framework/ 

ABC10. 2022, May 2. War trauma and Vietnamese Americans: A first-its-kind study seeks to learn more [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfg__GvKZ4Q 

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

American Psychiatric Association. 2022, October 21. What is PTSD? APA [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoJBvXAUvA8 

APA Dictionary of Psychology. (n.d.). Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. APA Dictionary of Psychology. https://dictionary.apa.org/posttraumatic-stress-disorder 

California Department of Education. 2021. Ethnic studies model curriculum. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/esmc.asp 

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

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

Sexias, P. & Morton, T. 2013. The big six: Historical thinking concepts. Nelson Education.

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

Viet Stories: Vietnamese American Oral History Project (VAOHP). (n.d.). Oral History of Bích Ngọc Thị Nguyễn. UCI Southeast Asian Archive. https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/81235/d8sn91/?order=0  

WFAA. 2022. Addressing mental health stigma in the Asian-American community. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az8pA8ocJ6Q 

Model Curriculum

Vietnamese American Experiences

Standard(s)

HSS 11.9 RI.11-12.2 W.11-12.9

Grade(s)

Grade 11 Grade 12