What is your school’s policy with regard to the celebration of holidays? I thought of this as I was making all of the schedule changes that I have during this season of Christmas. These schedule changes are due to the practices required for the Christmas Show that is being held in the school in which I teach. I wondered if you had to change your schedules at this time of the year for this same reason? I was also curious as to what the state law was with regard to the celebration of holidays in schools and I did some research on my own. I found the following from the Cranford, New Jersey policy handbook:
The Cranford Public Schools will promote meaningful multicultural learning experiences for all students. This includes teaching about various cultures and religious holidays but not celebrating them.
Holidays and special events may be recognized in the district's schools so long as such recognition respects the rights of others and is consistent with law.
I also found the link for the list of all religious holidays that are recognized by the state. This list represents the days on which students of various religions are permitted to have an excused absence. I was wondering what the rulings, celebrations, etc. are for the various school districts in which you are teaching. Please share your holiday teaching experiences with us.
The list of religious holidays recognized in the state of New Jersey can be found at this site: http://www.state.nj.us/education/genfo/holidays1112.htm
Decking the halls, singing the carols, rearranging the schedules…sorry, Virginia (Katie), there is no Santa Claus in middle school – at least not in Wayne. And I really miss him too. Well, not “him” exactly, but the periods of play practice, combined class “Specials,” and all the other unplanned lessons that wreak havoc on curriculum. I was just getting over the fact that I didn’t get to spend an hour a day, every day, during the month of November leading a Kindergarten chorus through three stanzas of “I Am a Great Big Indian Chief” (I know the hand motions too). So, count your blessings, Katie (you can do that in Catholic school) and enjoy…cause ‘tis the season!
ReplyDeleteThe high school I'm at is quite traditional. There is the Holiday Play and the Holiday Concert. The students who are involved in these performances may get a few periods out of the day before the performance day to practice, but other than that there is no substantial change to the schedule. Other than that, the students don't get much holiday spirit from the school, but the teaches have some freedom to celebrate in their classes.
ReplyDeleteThe high school I am at does not do much in terms of the holidays. There is a holiday concert, but that is all, and practice for the concert occurs before and/or after school. Many of the teachers have decorations in their rooms, but they must be multicultural or refer just to the "holiday season" My schedule has not changed at all, which I appreciate very much!! Although, I do with there was more Holiday Spirit in the air!
ReplyDeleteThe former district that I used to work in was in a mostly Jewish population. This district would alter the schedule based on Jewish holidays. In my current district, there is a large Muslim, Arabic, and Indian population, so the calendar is adjusted accordingly. There were large celebrations and numerous loud speaker announcements to acknowledge Diwali a few months ago. This was a holiday that I was previously unaware of, and as a matter of fact, the district next door actually had two days off for Diwali.
ReplyDeleteThe district in which I am teaching has a large Jewish community. The school schedule reflects significant Jewish holidays and Christian holidays. No other major world religions are acknowledged in the calendar as far as I can tell. The students also seem to be hyper sensitive to any holiday discussions and are the first ones to often point out that they should not be even discussed let alone celebrated. I too miss the days of celebrating holidays and I wish we could have moved to celebrating more rather than celebrating none.
ReplyDeleteThe high school I am in has not done anything entirely out of the ordinary for the Holidays. This is most likely because it is a high school and the students no longer have Christmas shows and parties like that of the elementary schools. However, the students do have their winter band concert this Thursday and we pulled from a class if they are in 4th period band to rehearse with the much larger, 2nd period band.
ReplyDeleteThe school did not seem to have a problem with this as it is vital to the success of the concert that the students ALL rehearse together AT LEAST once. I think it was also good planning on part of the administration and music faculty. If the concert was left until the week the school dismissed for recess, the students being pulled out of class could miss crucial work in academic classes.
As far a music repertoire is concerned, this is a very large concern for any music program. It is difficult to select music that can educate the students musically without seeming bias toward one denomination.
That happened at this particular district years ago and now the entire “Winter” program must be pre-approved by the fine arts supervisor.
Our “holiday” selections were approved at the beginning of the year for the winter concert and it was stipulated that if we were performing a “Christmas” piece, we must also perform a piece that is of another religious background.