Religion in the Classroom

The other morning, a family came in to talk to me before school. We did not have a scheduled appointment, so I was in the middle of planning my lessons for reading intervention groups when they walked in. My lights were dimmed and I had my music playing. And given that it’s December and I identify as Christian, I was bumpin’ my Michael Buble Christmas album. As soon as this family walked in, I turned my music down so that we could talk more easily, and we eventually walked together to the cafeteria to pick up the rest of my class. Later that day, the student of that family asked if I could put the Christmas music back on. “I’m not going to do that,” I said, “because not everyone celebrates Christmas.” This student looked at me dumbfounded and, after a long pause, asked, “You mean, they don’t believe in Santa?!”

Part of being a culturally responsive teacher is knowing who your students are. While Seattle is one of the least religious cities in the nation, my specific pocket of south King County has a different demographic makeup. Seattle has an average Hispanic population of 6.36%, but in Burien it’s 23.63%. In my experience, many of my families from Latin and South America come with rich religious traditions, primarily in Christian and specifically Catholic contexts. We also have a high population of families from East Africa, specifically Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea, of which some identify with their national-specific Orthodox Christian sects. Christianity is also celebrated amongst our Pacific Islander populations, our African American populations, some of our southeast Asian populations, and many of our white populations. My point is, my school has a high Christian, Christmas-celebrating population. Thus, it is imperative of me to honor my student’s observance of Christmas in order to elevate and validate their identity in the classroom.

But, and there’s always a “but”, Christianity is not the only religion observed in my classroom or in my school. We have many students from Muslim backgrounds, which I have found are heterogeneous depending on nation of origin. We also have Buddhists, Hindus, Daoists, atheists, and families practicing traditional beliefs from their specific community contexts. We also have non-religious families who do not want their students participating in any form of religious activity or conversation. These non-Christian populations are the minority in my school community, and in our nation, and so I find it critical to give space for their voices so that the “majority” does not fall into the illusion of being the “only”. I have often invited families to come and share their traditions and celebrations with our class in order to add breadth and depth to the overall religious conversation. My point here is that it is equally as important for me to validate these students’ experiences and religious identities.

So, when December rolls around and consumption-driven, capitalist-designed “Christmas” blares at us all from every store window and lightpost decoration, how do I honor and validate each one of my students religious identities? The easy answer is to avoid it all together. No holiday conversations, no themed activities, just keep your head down from Thanksgiving to Winter Break and hope no one starts singing “Jingle Bells”. I was in this camp for a few years and there’s no shame in not being ready to take on the “religion” conversation in your teaching practice. But religion, whether practiced individually or ingrained culturally, is part of each one of us, and if we want to teach the whole student, we have to take it on at some point. So the less easy but more rewarding option is to embrace what each student brings to the classroom and highlight how our similarities and diversities actually bind us together. My Mexican-American Catholic students have a whole different experience of Christmas than my historically Black Methodist students. Under the shared identity of Islam, my Somali immigrant students differ greatly from my Eritrean immigrant students in how they observe holidays and respond to the pervasive Christmas culture. Every year, I find myself reflecting on my own religious traditions and expectations in light of conversations I’ve had with both students and families. And this helps me be a better teacher, and perhaps (hopefully), a better human.

How does a teacher facilitate this open, respectful, religious dialog? Well, I’m still navigating the best ways, and each class brings new influences, challenges, and opportunities. I think it ultimately comes down to your classroom community. Here are some of the moves I make to support authentic, productive discussion:

• Create a habit of having conversations: this can look like weekly or daily classroom meetings where you problem-solve or gather student feedback, a scheduled time in the day where students practice listening and speaking (CCSS aligned, as well as basic human decency), or a time for students to connect ideas from different lessons or experiences.

• Support students with discussion sentence stems: for both English language learners and native English speakers, sentence stems are helpful tools for students to use when delivering their ideas. My go-to’s are: - I see ___ - I wonder ___ - I think that ___ because ___ - I agree with ___ because ___ - I disagree with ___ because ___

• Allowing for independent and conversational process time: this would look different at different age bands, but in kindergarten we tend to talk collectively first, then turn to a partner and talk, then come back together to share and develop our thinking. For some conversations, I’ve had students draw their ideas out prior to talking as a class.

In kindergarten, we have had high-level conversations around race and poverty, so believe in your student’s ability to take on these tricky conversations! And believe in yourself as an educator to at least try starting the conversation with them. Sometimes we teachers feel uncomfortable being students in front of our students, but it’s one of the most powerful moves we can make.

Additionally, I’d love to see more educators pushing back on the societal norm of universal Christmas. When I see teachers making Santa art projects or having a classroom Elf of the Shelf, I wonder where those choices come from- are teachers just doing what they find comfortable? Have they delved into their student’s cultural backgrounds so deeply and come to the conclusion that an Elf on the Shelf is the most rigorous academic choice? If so, I applaud you. That elf terrifies me. All I’d suggest is starting a conversation with your fellow educators around how you each handle religious differences in your classroom (and other differences, for that matter). The more we can reflect upon our own practice, the more refined our practice can become.

Teach on!

#christmas #holiday #religion #christianity #islam #muslim #december #culturallyresponsive