Ms. Catherine A. Mein
Teacher of World History
B. Ballard High School
Huxley, Iowa
Catherine Mein is a World History teacher at Ballard High School in central Iowa. She teaches Modern World History: 1450 to the Present and dual credit Western Civilizations: Beginnings to the Present. She serves as the social studies department chair and the high school social studies PLC lead teacher. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Catherine is the current Vice President of the Iowa Council for the Social Studies and has served on the ICSS board since 2004.
Catherine came to Japan through China. She studied Modern Chinese History and Women in Chinese History with Professor Jonathan Lipman at Mount Holyoke College. These two courses created a desire to know more about East Asia, and she was fortunate to encounter the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia early in her career. In 2000, she completed a 30-hour seminar that included China and Japan and which led her seek other learning opportunities about both China and Japan. The majority of those opportunities came from the Program for Teaching East Asia at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Since 2006, Catherine has participated in eight professional development opportunities on Modern Japan as well as additional opportunities on China and Korea. Catherine states, “These summer institutes, online courses, and study tours have created a deep understanding of the history of modern Japan and developed strong pedagogical strategies for teaching effectively about Japan. The generous funding provided by the U.S.-Japan Foundation, the Freeman Foundation, and the Fulbright-Hays Seminar Abroad Program made these opportunities possible.”
The impact of these professional development opportunities are apparent in lessons developed for Catherine’s Modern World History course. These lessons encourage students to interrogate sources so they can better assess historical arguments and to examine events from multiple perspectives. Beyond her classroom, Catherine has presented at state and national social studies conferences. Several of these presentations were developed out of her professional learning about Japan. Almost every professional development opportunity was followed by a presentation at either the state, regional, or national level, with the intent of sharing that learning with more teachers. Following an online course and study tour about Japan’s cultural encounters, Catherine developed lessons which are nationally available through the Program for Teaching East Asia. She presented two webinars and presented twice at the National Conference for the Social Studies conference. In 2014, she collaborated on two more lessons for another project on early 20th century Japan.
Catherine shares, “I have been hugely fortunate to have all of these learning opportunities. I’ve listened to John Dower talk about the creation of the MIT Visualizing Cultures website and to a survivor of the bombing of Nagasaki share her story. I got to plant trees in an area inundated by the 2011 tsunami and spend a weekend with a family in Osaka. While I and my students have benefitted from these opportunities, I also feel a strong responsibility to share this learning with other teachers, to impact as many classrooms as possible. Receiving the Elgin Heinz Award is a great honor and encourages me to continue my work.”
Catherine is sponsoring a trip to Japan in 2020 and will provide scholarships for students out of the program funds. In addition to these scholarships, Catherine will be purchasing books for her curriculum library and providing funds to expand the high school manga collection. All of these will provide greater learning opportunities about Japan for Ballard students.