Opportunities presented by the holidays
By David Benson, Educational Technology Consultant
A lot has happened in the world these past few months and it has given us all a great deal to think about. But now that Thanksgiving is over, the shopping season has kicked up a notch and looming on the horizon are some of the world's most cherished and sacred holidays some of which have started already.
Ramadan has already started and Hanukkah starts soon, and Christmas, Kwanzaa and Boxing Day come toward the end of December. This time of year always seems to present a grand opportunity to teach students about the many different and wonderful cultures that populate our world. These festivals and holidays are great examples to show our children what is important to other cultures and religions, how they dress, what they like to eat and how they choose to celebrate an event that is important to them.
Before I started this article, I did a little research on the Internet. With the simple search of "World Holidays" as the subject I turned up the following two Web sites: The Worldwide Holiday and Festival Site (http://www.holidayfestival.com) and Yahooligans Around the World (http://www.yahooligans.com/Around_the_World ) or http://wneo.org/hotlists/holidays.htm. Some of the things I learned from these sites were fascinating and illuminating, particularly when it came to the origins of some of our holidays. I must confess, my preconceived ideas were overturned by what I found.
And that's just two of the many sites available not to mention the many books and ITV programs available as well.
As we navigate through these confusing times maybe we owe it to our students to alter their perceptions and help them become more tolerant and gain a better understanding of the cultures around them. After all, this time of year does seem to present some grand opportunities to learn something new about different people.
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