Wednesday, October 2, 2013
October Thoughts
October can be a challenging month in schools. Discussions about whether to celebrate Hallowe'en, wear costumes, provide 'alternative activities', etc. can polarize staffs. How is this handled in your school? Do you have any experience or ideas to share? How might we support each other and bring others on board as we try to create inclusive events in our schools?
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At our school, Hallowe'en is less of a religious issue and more of a problem in terms of how people decorate the neighbourhood. Perhaps too often these days horror is seen as entertainment. We have many children whose families have lived literal horrors, have seen loved ones murdered brutally in front of their eyes. I had a student who would not remember what you taught him the day before, because his mind was in the habit of blocking things out. He had lost a lot of long term memory as a coping mechanism for what he had witnessed before coming to Canada. Some of our students take a lot of convincing that our lockdown drill is just a drill. They have had so much to fear already. So celebrating a tradition like Hallowe'en is not just about "inclusiveness" or "what will x family or y family think?" It's about compassion and empathy also. Keeping this in mind (and our primary children), we have a costume day on Hallowe'en, but do not allow violent costumes, toy weapons or scary masks. And those who wish to participate do, and those who do not, don't.
ReplyDeleteI was at a school once where the committee in charge of special days awarded classes that had the most conformity (eg. everyone wear red on Valentine's day). That meant, unfortunately, that the class that had the twin Jehovah's Witness students in it would never 'win'. I wonder how that affected them. I wonder how that affected the other students in the class.
ReplyDelete. There are some Thanksgiving/harvest themed displays at our school right now. I think it would be wonderful, and very inclusive to perhaps use this month to reflect on thankfulness and encourage everyone to reflect on what they are particularly happy about, satisfied with, thankful for in their lives. Thanksgiving would, I believe, be a very inclusive, positive thing for all to celebrate.
ReplyDeleteThere is a danger in the 'hidden curriculum'. The one where certain holidays are silently celebrated more than others, regardless of the beliefs of the student population, but simply reflecting that of the majority culture. I don't believe that in most cases teachers do this intentionally or maliciously, but out of habit or tradition and, in some cases, the genuine desire to include those of other cultures in majority-culture celebrations. However, if the teacher does not create a class culture, where every single child feels completely comfortable talking about what they are going to wear for Eid, how many diyas they lit this year, how many people are coming to their Bar Mitzvah, or how they don't feel comfortable singing "God keep our land" because they don't believe there is a god, then I find that these children eventually just go along with what "everybody" else is doing.
ReplyDeleteAs far as my classes (French Primary/Junior) are concerned, this is what I try to do around holidays:
ReplyDelete1) Remember that there is diversity within a group (eg. Muslim family a) does not participate in music class during Moharram and Ramadan, Muslim family b) has two dads who fast in Ramadan and love music, Muslim family c) celebrates Christmas and Eid)
2)Inform myself on what kids celebrate (when I did celebrations and traditions with atheists and Jehovah's Witnesses, I asked them if they have something fun they do on a regular basis with their family. One boy said, "Yeah! Friday is our family movie night!" Perfect!) and be aware when their special days are celebrated during the year. It makes anyone feel good if you wish them a happy celebration with their family.
3) Leading up to the winter holidays, I photocopy a bunch of fun activities (mazes, puzzles, things to draw, word puzzles in French) that have a variety of themes from holidays of various religious traditions and non-religious traditions (eg. winter activities, giving to foodbanks, etc). Then I just put them in piles around the room. I tell the kids they can choose any activity they wish and let them go to it. It is an interesting experiment. Try it sometime! I did it once during a 'buddy' time. I circulate, curious to see what they choose. They are kids--if they like mazes, they choose mazes, no matter what the theme is. So there were Christians tracing a route for Lakshmi to find the house lit with diyas. There were Muslims tracing a route for the wise men to find baby Jesus. There were Buddhists designing prayer mats. There were atheists colouring Chinese New Year dragons. And there were questions and curious and respectful discussions. There was learning without judgement.
Thanks for your wonderful comments and suggestions Kathy!
ReplyDeleteIn your last post, you mentioned that you offer a wide variety of activities during December from which kids may choose. I wonder if this is something that some of us could gather and offer to teachers? Perhaps a package could be shared at Rep Council with the reps from each school? I'll bet this would be well received. Copyright comes to mind right away, however, there are probably lots of things online that are copyright friendly - we could provide a list of suggested links. Mmmmmm. Something to consider. I'll bring this up at our next Equity Committee meeting. Thanks for the inspiration!
Sounds like a good idea--sometimes people are hesitant not because they are unwilling, but because they don't know where to start. I prepped a list of web sites such as you suggest some years ago. I can go through, update them and send you a copy to peruse.
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