Celebrating Winter Holidays
Grade Level: All
Intended For: Educators, School Staff, School Leaders
About This Resource
Learning about holidays provides openings and opportunities for students to learn more about each other and the cultural traditions and observances that are meaningful to them. Students can learn about aspects of each other’s identities including religion, race, culture, nationality and ethnicity. Acknowledging holidays and observances, as long as they are inclusive and accurate, can also help students feel seen, included and respected for who they are. At the same time, it is important to be mindful that some people do not celebrate holidays for religious or personal reasons. Further, not all people from the same identity group celebrate all the holidays or observe them similarly.
The winter holidays can pose a dilemma for schools. Because there are a variety of holidays during the winter months and schools want to be inclusive, specific guidelines and tips may be useful. This resource focuses on winter holidays that include Diwali (date determined by the Lunar calendar), Christmas (December 25), Hanukkah (date determined by the Hebrew calendar), Kwanzaa (December 25), Three Kings’ Day/Epiphany (January 6), New Year’s Eve (December 31), Winter Solstice (December 21), Lunar New Year (date determined by the Lunar calendar) and sometimes Ramadan (date determined by the Islamic calendar).
Strategies
Part I: Be Inclusive and Respectful
In planning activities or events around the winter holidays, be mindful not to favor one religion or cultural group over another. Be as inclusive as you can by acknowledging a variety of holidays and observances from different racial, ethnic, religious, nationality and cultural groups. For example, if you are organizing a winter holiday concert, include songs from different cultures, holidays and traditions. If you plan to decorate or create a winter holiday display, include all of them. When reading books about the holidays, make sure you go beyond books about Christmas and Hanukkah and include other holidays. Be inclusive not only for the cultural groups that represent your school. Think outside of your school community and include other holidays that will help students learn about people outside your community. In your commemorations, be accurate and respectful. Don’t trivialize certain holidays or convey that they are more or less important than they are to that particular cultural group.
Part II: Encourage Sharing
Invite students to share with each other the holidays that are meaningful to them, their families, ancestors and communities. Use these holiday celebrations and traditions as a chance for students to educate each other about cultural diversity. With younger students, invite families to participate in the cultural sharing. With older students, encourage them to interview their parents and other family members to learn and share more. This sharing can also include storytelling, arts and crafts, sharing food or other traditions or inviting guest speakers, focusing on appreciation rather than religious elements. Remember that cultural sharing of any kind should always be completely optional and solely the student’s decision. No students should be forced or pressured to share.
Part III: Go Beyond Food and Festivals
Oftentimes, when exploring holiday traditions, there can be a tendency to focus on food or other more tangible aspects of culture. Foods are important aspects of holidays and culture but don’t stop there. Dig deeper and encourage students to learn about and explore what those foods represent, their history, meaning and traditions. In addition, learn about the relevant history, struggle and meaning behind the holidays. If there are ceremonies or traditions associated with the holiday, explore the importance of those. When gift-giving is part of the holiday tradition, learn about the origins of those rituals. Learn about the music, theater, literature and other artistic aspects of the holidays.
Part IV: Be Careful with Assignments
As you plan to talk or teach about holidays, be cautious not to create any assignments or activities that put students in a position where they feel uncomfortable, excluded or emotionally unsafe. Before assigning a project or task, ask yourself if all students will be able to relate to the assignment or whether it might make them feel uneasy or left out. Examples of inappropriate assignments include writing a letter to Santa Claus, saying a Hanukkah prayer, holiday gift exchanges, or creating crafts or decorations for specific holidays. In addition to being mindful not to put students in these uncomfortable positions, always make it clear that students can opt-out.
Part V: Focus on Universal Themes
Even though these holidays vary in their traditions, histories and origins, many holidays are connected in that they have universal themes. Because of that, holidays can also serve as a jumping-off point for discussing some of the universal themes that many holidays share. Start by eliciting some of the universal themes from students. Those themes can include light in the darkness; generosity and giving; family, friendship, community and togetherness; festivity and joy; and embracing cultural traditions. This is a helpful way to explore the universality of the human condition and the many different cultures that embody our society and world. At the same time, be mindful to retain the uniqueness of each holiday.
Part VI: Follow the Law
Public schools can teach about religious holidays as part of cultural education but they must avoid any celebration or activities that appear to promote or endorse a particular religion. In addition, schools can acknowledge, celebrate and commemorate both religious and secular (non-religious) holidays but the celebration must be secular in nature. As the ACLU states, “Under current law, public schools generally may acknowledge and discuss religious holidays, as long as the focus is an educational one and not devotional.” This means, for example, that exploring the historical and cultural significance of Christmas, Hanukkah or Diwali is usually acceptable, while activities that encourage religious worship or prayer are not.
Learning and Reflection Moments for Students
Here are some ways to help students learn about and reflect on the winter holidays:
Read and discuss fiction and non-fiction books or other forms of literature (poetry, short stories, folktales, drama, etc.) about the winter holidays.
Have students conduct research to learn the history and origins of one of the winter holidays.
Invite students to talk with or interview their parents, family members or relatives to learn more about their memories of the winter holidays when they were young.
Have students write self-reflection essays or poems about a holiday that is important or meaningful to them. If they don’t celebrate holidays, they can write about a non-holiday family tradition, ritual or celebration
Use cultural and holiday music, songs, dance and films to help students learn more about the holidays from an artistic perspective.
Engage students in learning about different winter holidays that are celebrated around the world.
Ask students to watch on social media how people are talking about the winter holidays and analyze patterns, themes and areas of divergence.
The winter holidays can be a wonderful time to honor different cultures, traditions and rituals. It is important to be intentional that these commemorations are inclusive, accurate, respectful and lawful. When done right, holiday celebrations can help students feel understood, included and connected to others.