‘Tis the season! It’s that time of year again when the whole world seems to be getting ready to celebrate. In our increasingly global world, it’s also a great time to help our students better understand, appreciate and respect the different religions, cultures, and holidays around the world. Thankfully, technology can make that classroom objective easier than ever to achieve.
A Word of Caution
Before jumping into ideas and potential lesson plans, it’s important to understand that educators are permitted under the First Amendment to teach about religious holidays but not allowed to celebrate specific religious holidays.
According to the Anti Defamation League (ADL), “Celebrating religious holidays in the form of religious worship or other practices is unconstitutional. Teaching about a holiday will be constitutional if it furthers a genuine secular program of education, is presented objectively, and does not have the effect of advancing or inhibiting religion.” The ADL guidance applies to both virtual classroom activities and school-wide events.
Beyond the legal ramifications of inappropriately dealing with all the December holidays, educators have faced the difficulty of celebrating the season without leaving out or marginalizing particular students who may be in the minority. Here are some ideas to positively incorporate cultures, religions, and traditions into your classroom.
• Launch a Year-Long Appreciation for Holidays. Instead of focusing on the major December holidays alone, consider using this holiday season as a launching pad to study many holidays throughout the year. Check out a multi-faith calendar published by Harvard’s Pluralism Project for ideas.
• Take It to the Next Level. After exploring some of the basics, older students may want to take their questions and research to the next level. Often, many individuals within the same religious tradition are even more diverse, celebrating in different ways and even starting their own family or community traditions. Find real people who can share family stories or read biographies from various traditions to bring cultures to a personal level.
• Foster a Respectful Environment. Be sure to establish and reinforce the rules around discussing and sharing religious and cultural traditions. Help students understand how to ask questions in a curious and interested manner and refrain from being more accusatory in tone to make sure everyone feels comfortable and included.
• Include Families and Parents. Be sure you communicate your plans with parents so they understand that discussions around cultures and religion are focused on only educational goals. Invite them to share or speak about their own experiences to add even greater personalization to your activities.
Technology as a Research Assistant
As we’ve all learned over the past decades, the internet has become the easiest research assistant for both students and teachers. Numerous articles and resources are available to help both educators and older students learn more about the major world religions including dates that certain events are celebrated, traditions performed by certain cultures, and the symbolism behind activities, gatherings, and celebrations.
It can also be used as a way to encourage parents who want to continue this December theme of learning about different cultures, beliefs, and religions to plan family, weekend, or after-school events that reinforce the same ideas.
Take Virtual Tours
Once you’ve identified the major world religions or holidays you’d like to study during the month of December, explore the many types of virtual field trips that are available online. Younger students may enjoy exploring pictures and images that are unique to each religion while older teens may be able to work in groups to take such tours together, collecting information and formulating deeper questions for further study.
Many websites are also available that can provide additional information, games, images, and facts about different traditions that are celebrated during December as well as the symbolism behind them.
Benefits of Learning About Different Traditions
One of the biggest benefits of learning about other religions, cultures and traditions is that you learn more about the students in your own classroom and they can learn more about one another.
For younger students, this can be a great theme for show-and-tell, inviting students to share their favorite tradition or activity in December. If you have a particularly diverse student population, invite those who celebrate different religious traditions to help coordinate or lead the research effort for the cultures and religions you are studying. They may want to bring in favorite decorations, games, or food items to share, helping their classmates get to know them even better.
Incorporating a wide range of activities into your curriculum in December can help students appreciate the differences in one another as well as throughout a diverse community and world. These activities can help students be more inclusive in their daily lives, fostering a sense of openness and connection with all those around them.
