As Halloween approaches, I believe that it is important to remain sensitive to all students. Halloween is an exciting time in elementary school for a lot of students, however, some students may not celebrate that particular holiday for religious or personal reasons. I am very curious to hear what you all think about this topic because it is an issue about which I have little experience. I personally do not know what I would do if confronted with the situation in which a child is not allowed to celebrate Halloween, for religious reasons.
Have you ever observed a situation in which a child was unable to participate in Halloween or in any other class celebration, for religious reasons? Have you talked to your cooperating teacher about how they would approach (or have approached) such a situation? For example, would you allow other students to continue Christmas activities and give the student who doesn't celebrate Christmas a seasonal activity? On the other hand, would you refrain from giving specific holiday activities at so as to avoid any uncomfortable situations? Would you still decorate your classroom for the various holidays, despite the fact that one or two students in your classroom may not take part in those holidays? What are your thoughts? The article listed below may be of some help to you.
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I have not observed a child specifically not being able to participate in Halloween but have seen a student who was not able to participate in celebrating the birthdays of their peers within the classroom. What the cooperating teacher I was working with did was when a student had a birthday within the room, the student who could not celebrate with the class would leave the room and go to another room. While there, the student would work on fun crafting activities during the time period of the party. This was perfect for the student as she loved to create new things and had a real “artistic touch”. I thought this was a good strategy for the teacher to use as the student was doing something that they loved, was not celebrating because of religious reasons, and also felt like they were not being punished for their religious beliefs. I have seen where a student was miserable when leaving the room because a birthday was being celebrated. This was because the student would go into another room and just sit there during the time allotted for the party. In this case, it felt like the child was being punished for their religious beliefs rather than being celebrated themselves.
ReplyDeleteI have not discussed with my cooperative teacher regarding this topic. However, I am currently placed at a Catholic school where all of the students are mostly Catholic. So, there is not much variety when it comes to religion. The school, however, does celebrate the birthdays of the whole school for a whole month on one day. This would make it easier for the student to be removed from the celebration if need be and the student would not be missing for every birthday. The student would only miss once every month at the end of the month. For example, all October birthdays are celebrated on October 30th rather than on each student’s individual day. Regarding Christmas, my students would currently receive Christmas materials as I do work at a Catholic school where religion classes take place every day. However, if I were in a different setting, I think that I would stay away from Christmas all together and plan more seasonal lessons. This way I can be inclusive to all students rather than just a selected number of students. I would also decorate my classroom as well but would focus on more seasonal aspects. I feel as though I would do this or I would go overboard with the different holidays and make sure to include as many as I can within the classroom. This opens the eyes of the students and helps them to realize that their or religions and holidays other than their own. While I would not celebrate them within the classroom, we can still learn about the holidays and the religions associated with them!
I have not seen a situation in the classroom thus far in which a student was not able to participate in Halloween due to religious reasons. However, I know that my cooperating teacher mentioned that she will find out and take note of who will not be participating in next week's festivities. I have heard that students who are not, may take off the day of Halloween.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is important to be accepting of all your students' religious and cultural backgrounds. Therefore, teachers must respect that some students may or may not take part in certain celebrations. As a teacher, I would rather give my students seasonal activities and crafts to work on. By doing so, I believe it creates a much more welcoming environment for all students. Therefore, I may add just general seasonal decorations in my classroom. I would make sure to get the parents’ input about how they feel on decorations as well. I would also politely ask what they may not want their child to participate in. I believe that parent involvement is an important aspect in education as well.
-Maria DiSpigna
Molly's comment to the BLOG
ReplyDeleteNot until this year have I experienced this situation. This year, out of the 70 children I work with, there is one that does not celebrate Halloween, or any other holiday for that matter. I am not sure how it will be handled, though, as this student is not in my homeroom class and will not be present for our class party. I will make sure to find out more as to how this will be handled, especially since the entire school participates in an annual Halloween parade, to prepare myself for the future.
I wholeheartedly agree and support the notion that we need to be inclusive of all students during the holiday season. That being said, I think it is important to acknowledge, discuss, and celebrate the different holidays celebrated by students in classroom. Some district curriculum's call for explicit instruction of the holiday's and teachers should address them, but they need to be sensitive about them.
Each year, going back to when I was a student in Denville, the school celebrates the holiday season with a holiday concert. The band performs holiday songs and each grade sings different holiday songs including songs about Christmas, Hannukah, and Kwanza. It's a very inclusive event and the kids, staff, and parents highly enjoy it.
In my own classroom, I would, with parent discretion and permission, celebrate something along the lines of a festival of holidays towards the appropriate time of year. There will be different seasonal crafts and activities for the class as a whole, but there would also be in the inclusion of holiday-specific activities and crafts for those who want to participate. It gives the students the freedom to learn about other holidays if they so wish while also respecting their different beliefs.
I have never observed in a classroom where a student was not able to participate in Halloween or any other classroom celebration. But, when I was in 4th grade, one of my classmates was not allowed to celebrate anything with the class (birthdays, Halloween, holidays, etc.). The girl remained in our classroom during this time, but just did not fully participate in the festivities. For example, for Halloween, she would not dress up, but would walk with our class in the Halloween parade. Or, during a classroom birthday, she would stay in the class but not sing Happy Birthday and would not eat the cupcake. I think by allowing the student to stay in the class, the teacher was not singling out the student. She was still observing the student's religious views but allowing her to not participate in our classroom festivities, but the student was still present so she did not feel left out.
ReplyDeleteIf a student in my class did not celebrate Christmas or any other holiday, I would provide them with winter crafts! Instead of writing a letter to Santa they could write a letter to a snowman. Or instead of only singing Christmas and Hanukkah songs, we could also sing songs about winter and snow!
I do really love holiday activities, so it would be hard for me to refrain from including them in my classroom. I think the most important thing to do is base this off your class each year-- if the majority celebrate the holiday(s), then I would include holiday activities because I think a lot of students enjoy them!
Depending on the holiday, I would probably still decorate my classroom! For example, for Halloween, if there were a few students who did not celebrate it, I may aim for less Halloween-specific decorations and aim to add more pumpkins and leaves to my room because those can also symbolize fall. I would also try to be aware of the holidays that are more specific to religion (Christmas) than others (Halloween). I may be a bit more conscious of what I put up for Christmas decorations because it is a Christian holiday than Halloween considering it does not really have a religious conotation to it.
So far, I have never observed a class during halloween or any other class celebration. Therefore I have not had the chance to observed a situation in which a child was unable to participate in the festivities. Before responding to this blog I had a talk with my cooperating teacher about how they have approached such a situation. She has made me aware that on halloween all the children from all grades whom cannot celebrate for religious reasons are to go to the gym during the parade and the “after party”. In the gym the children have their own little party that is not halloween based. There they play games and dance while the other children in school celebrate halloween. Many teachers like to assign holiday related classwork/homework/projects but my cooperating teacher understands that not all students can do fun little activities like that. So her way of adding a little fun and be “festive” she hands out autumn related activities. And decorated worksheets but the activity has nothing to do with halloween but with the curriculum.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is important to respect all your students’ religious and cultural beliefs. As an educator, I would give my students seasonal activities and projects that is seasonal based rather than holiday based. In order to know what they deem as appropriate. I would ask the parents to become more involved in their child’s educational environment. During back to school night and/or parent teacher conferences to see what decorations they would feel comfortable with and what holidays they do not celebrate. Having involved parents and respect for their beliefs is important in fostering an effective classroom environment.
-Aimee
Allowing students to celebrate holidays in school exciting and allows them to celebrate with not only their family but also with their friends. I have not come across a situation where the school is celebrating a holiday and a specific child is not allowed to celebrate. This semester my teacher was unsure if all the students were celebrating, so she asked each child privately what they were doing that day and if they would be dressing up in school or at home. I think my cooperating teacher approached this topic correctly. She individually asked each student, rather than announcing to the class and having students raise their hand if they were not celebrating; this caused for each student to not feel left out. While in the teachers room for lunch, one of the other first grade teachers told my cooperating teacher and me that one of her students do not celebrate and they would be staying for home the day. I think the school should have an alternative for students who do not celebrate specific holidays, such as having a movie playing in an unused classroom for all students that do not participate. I think decorating the classroom allows the students to be in the spirit of the holiday, but the teachers should be aware what everyone celebrates, for example, during Christmas, there should not only be Christmas decorations there should be a mix of all the other holiday decorations that are celebrated in December.
ReplyDeleteMegan Barreto
ReplyDeleteIt is important to allow students to celebrate holidays in school. This is something that excites them. This can be done in a way that is sensitive to all students. Instead of celebrating every individual holiday, teachers can celebrate seasons with their students. For example during fall students can make and decorate pumpkins, in the winter they can decorate snowflakes, and in the spring they can decorate flower. Keeping these celebrations more broad can allow for all students to still be included.