3 Tips to Create Inclusive Celebrations During the Holiday Season

At the end of the calendar year, many religious and cultural holidays occur, sometimes even overlapping. Teachers who strive to create diverse, inclusive, equitable, and antiracist spaces find that navigating this season can be challenging as the dominant culture’s practices can exclude or ignore other experiences. However, the season also presents an opportunity for teachers and educational institutions to promote greater understanding and tolerance among students of different traditions. Here are some important considerations when recognizing and honouring the many different celebrations that fall at the end of the year, to be mindful of how they may impact children and young people.

1. Celebrate All Year Round

Faith and cultural holidays occur at different times in the year. Some follow the Gregorian calendar. Some do not. Here are some examples:

• • The Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival, is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar and falls sometime in January or February.
  • Ramadan and the two Eids are significant Islamic festivals that depend on the Hijri calendar and are determined through moonsighting.
  • In New Zealand, the Indigenous Māori celebration of Matariki marks the first rising of the Pleiades star cluster in late June or early July, marking the beginning of the new year in the Māori lunar calendar.

By incorporating celebrations throughout the year and aiming to keep it balanced in terms of timing and cultural focus, you can ensure that school celebrations acknowledge all cultures, and you can show students that they are all valued.

2. Accommodate Those Who Do Not Celebrate

During the holiday season, it can be very easy to make assumptions that everyone will be partaking in the season’s celebrations. It may also be easy to believe that people who do celebrate a certain festival will mark the holiday in the same way. But of course, not everyone celebrates in the same way, nor do they give the same level of significance to the different holidays in the year.

It is important to provide students the opportunity to choose not to participate in activities they find offensive to their religious sensibilities. It is also important to ensure that some activities during this season are free from holiday-themed motifs and are more general. This extends to seasonal greetings as well. For example, if someone does not celebrate Christmas, wishing them a Merry Christmas can be meaningless (or even, at times, offensive). Knowing what holidays students don’t celebrate can help you prepare in ways that can make all students feel included.

3. Maximise Learning

Though festivals and holidays can be fun to celebrate, it is important that all activities service an academic objective. Teach about the different customs, stories, and significance of holidays celebrated during the season. Consider diving into the rich cultural histories of holidays around the world, enabling learners to become more globally informed citizens:

• • Age-appropriate books, songs, artefacts, and discussions can be used to enhance this learning.
  • Select craft projects that foster creativity while developing awareness of cultural traditions.
  • Emphasise the importance of universal values associated with different holidays, like kindness, generosity, and gratitude.
  • Organise a service activity that benefits the community while also teaching your students about giving back and helping those less fortunate.

Though it may be important to understand the religious perspectives of some faith-based traditions to foster religious competence, it is never acceptable to compel students to participate in religious practices, like prayer, even as part of a performance.

Do you have more ideas about how to celebrate the holidays with an inclusive spirit? Share your experiences and suggestions with us!