{"id":3973,"date":"2021-11-24T20:14:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-25T01:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.helpteaching.com\/blog\/?p=3973"},"modified":"2023-04-21T09:15:40","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T13:15:40","slug":"4-ways-to-make-a-holiday-inclusive-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.helpteaching.com\/blog\/4-ways-to-make-a-holiday-inclusive-classroom.html","title":{"rendered":"4 Ways to Make a Holiday-Inclusive Classroom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Ways<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Every teacher wants their classroom to be a place of joy, harmony, and inclusion, particularly during the winter holiday season. But with students of many faiths and cultures represented in today\u2019s classrooms, it can sometimes be tricky to stay sensitive to everyone\u2019s needs and step around the pitfalls of stereotyping and tokenism. Keep reading for our suggestions on how to make a holiday-inclusive classroom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teachers are at the vanguard of diversity education<\/a>, so it\u2019s our job to balance awareness, representation, and sensitivity when it comes to winter holiday celebrations in the classroom. These four key principles will help you develop your own strategy for holiday celebrations that engage students from a wide variety of cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holiday-inclusive Classroom Tip #1: Don’t Assume, Stereotype, or Tokenize<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

First\nand foremost, remember that holiday activities will often require care and\nthought toward equitability because of how they bring real-world traditions\ninto the classroom. That can make a great opportunity for fun and interesting\nlearning, but its benefits must be equitable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How\nto pull off this balancing act? The first step is to check your assumptions and\nprivilege. Don\u2019t assume that a student celebrates any particular holiday based\non their ethnicity or heritage. Likewise, don\u2019t assume that everyone celebrates\na winter holiday. Some students\u2019 religious traditions may not have winter\nholidays or any holidays at all, and many will likely celebrate the same\nholiday in different ways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One good way to get started is to open up a discussion to any student who wants to talk about their celebrations or traditions, keeping in mind that not all children will be comfortable talking about theirs. Remember that students shouldn\u2019t be expected to be experts on the holidays they or their families celebrate. Student-led discussions of different celebrations can be great, but avoid putting any student on the hot seat to talk about or explain a particular tradition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holiday-inclusive Classroom Tip #2: Build Diversity into Your Lesson Plans<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Good\nholiday lesson plans should celebrate differences. A unit on different\nholiday celebrations<\/a>, for example, can provide some fun and interesting lesson opportunities.\nThe holiday season is the perfect time to bring in guest speakers to talk to\nthe class about how they celebrate holidays, since many students will be eager\nfor a change of pace, and speakers can often provide interesting and in-depth\ninsights to add to discussions. Parents or community leaders make great guest\nspeakers, and some will probably be eager to share their traditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to examine certain traditions but can\u2019t fit in guest speakers, try reading books or watching films or YouTube videos as part of your investigations into how different cultures celebrate. For older students, breaking the class into groups to learn about and report on various holiday traditions can be a good way to create student interest and sharpen research skills. If interesting and diverse activities are available, field trips to community holiday events can be another excellent option. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holiday-inclusive Classroom Tip #3: Think Outside the Usual Holiday Cliches<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s nothing wrong with reindeer, Santa hats, and sugar cookies, but try to diversify your decorations and not focus them on a single holiday. At the same time, be careful about using symbols from cultures you\u2019re not familiar with\u2014do your research first and make sure you\u2019re not using them in an offensive or inappropriate way. When in doubt, it\u2019s best to politely ask someone with knowledge of the specific cultural tradition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soliciting\nstudent input on decorations or letting students hang their own crafts can\noffer a lot of great possibilities to let kids express themselves and feel\nrepresented in the classroom. Holiday STEM projects offer more great ideas\nsince they often focus on things like winter weather that can be examined\noutside of a cultural or religious context. (Plus, they often use interesting\nand fun tools like student microscopes<\/a>.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In classes with a strong multicultural focus, one idea is to make the winter holidays a single piece of a rolling year-round investigation into holidays from many different traditions. This can be a good way to include students whose traditions don\u2019t have any winter holidays, or for whom winter holidays aren\u2019t a focal point of the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tip #4: Consider Forms of Inclusion Outside of Religion and Culture<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There are many ways to create a diverse and harmonious classroom besides acknowledging religious differences. The holidays are a great time to focus on what brings us together, and that means paying special attention to students with a full range of physical, cultural, social, and emotional needs. Consider factors such as: <\/p>\n\n\n\n