It’s that time of year again—when well-meaning teachers across the country prepare to teach their young learners all about the joys of the season. That is, holidays! Specifically Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. It’s not that this is necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. But as a plan for inclusion, it doesn’t pass muster. So if this is your go-to curriculum for winter, it’s time to ask yourself some hard questions:
What’s my real reason for doing this?
Take a long hard look at your lesson plans around winter holidays. Are they fairly Christmas-centric? Do Hanukkah and Kwanzaa feel like add-ons? I’m sure some teachers strike a balance, but my sense is that this is a way to continue having kids write letters to Santa and to feel OK about bringing our Elf on the Shelf into the classroom. Don’t believe me? Did you make as big a deal out of Yom Kippur this fall? Because that is a much more significant holiday in Judaism. And that’s what makes this practice feel so surface level.
What exactly am I teaching?
It is not illegal to teach about holidays in schools. BUT (and it’s a big but), while you can teach about religion, you can’t teach religion. The Anti-Defamation League explains it this way, “While it is constitutionally permissible for public schools to teach about religion, it is unconstitutional for public schools and their employees to observe religious holidays, promote religious belief, or practice religion.” Check that your content doesn’t cross the line.
So does that mean that commercialized stuff is OK because it’s “not religious?” Nope. And I’ll admit I’ve been guilty of this. But according to the NAEYC, “Secularized versions of holidays are not culturally or religiously neutral.” And they’re right. A Christmas tree, for example, comes from a dominant culture religious holiday and is grounded in certain cultural assumptions. Hence, not neutral.
Who am I excluding?
When you bring in Christmas and Hanukkah, how do your Muslim and Hindu students feel? What about non-religious students? Does the way you teach Kwanzaa (do you really know what it’s all about?) actually make your Black students feel that their beliefs are being trivialized? Every family is entitled to its traditions. When you limit your instruction to certain holidays, you also send the message that they matter more than others. It’s an exclusionary practice, and it’s not OK.
Do these holidays reflect the lived experiences of my students?
The children we teach are so diverse that it’s likely that Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa aren’t going to cover the breadth of beliefs and cultures represented in our classrooms. And I have a hard time believing that teachers who are doing the same holiday dance over and over each year have students with the exact same backgrounds every year. So this practice likely isn’t culturally responsive.
How does this fit in to my overall plan for inclusion?
Even if you’re doing it really well, it’s not enough to just teach about Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Is your classroom also a safe place for children to share about their families and traditions? Are you interrupting stereotypes? Are you having conversations about how different people believe different things even within the same belief system? Inclusion is less about the activities and more about the classroom environment.
What might I do instead?
- Swap your Santas for snowflakes. Whereas even secular activities attached to holidays aren’t neutral, seasons are for everyone. No one’s saying you can’t decorate your door or do a themed math activity. Just be thoughtful about your choices (think: sleds, not stockings).
- Learn about and from one another. Find out about your students’ cultural backgrounds, religions, families, and traditions at the beginning of the year. Make it part of the classroom conversation. Invite students and families to share (just avoid the tourist trap!).
- Lean into teaching vs. celebrating. Public school teachers cannot promote a particular religious point of view (thanks, First Amendment). It’s totally fine to learn about the origins, purposes, and meanings of holidays. But keep the approach academic as opposed to devotional.
- Create your own classroom celebrations. There’s no reason that classroom celebrations have to center around a holiday. And might they not be more powerful if you came up with them together? Host a “read in” in pajamas or invite friends and family members to attend an “Our Caring Communities” celebration.
- Make it a year-round commitment. If you’re going hard into Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, then I also want to see you bring in El Día de Los Muertos, Diwali, Lunar New Year, and Ramadan. Look for themes (light, liberation, sharing, thankfulness, community) across cultures.
How do you celebrate holidays inclusively at school? Tell us in the comments.
Plus, Inclusive Ways to Celebrate the Holiday Season at School.
Thank you for your insightful article. As a principal, I try to avoid all holiday celebrations. We do read books about various holidays around the world to help scholars learn about others and their celebrations. It helps develop awareness and acceptance. We create our own celebrations like Heritage Day instead of Thanksgiving. This one of the days scholar share their culture in various ways. We celebrate Healthy Heart Day instead of Valentine’s Day. We do heart healthy activities for an entire day. We host a Winter Wonderland instead of Christmas where we read books about snowmen and drink warm cocoa.
As we learn more about the various cultures in our school, I buy books that we add to our library so that everyone feels included.
Recently my AP stated her family celebrates the Day of the Dead and I realized that we didn’t cover it or have any books in the school about. I quickly went on Amazon and bought tons of books so that next year she can share this cultural tradition with our kids.
Love this article. We are teaching an entire unit this December that represents all of our families. I am not sure how many other schools are doing the same?