That brings a twofold
problem. If we celebrate a number of
these international/multicultural festivals in addition to the UK ones we might
regularly mark anyway, rather than instead of – do we risk having a programme
which simply lurches straight from one festival to another, with little gap
between for other topics to be covered and other skills taught? Or, are there some traditional festivals
which we tend to mark every year, but actually could quite reasonably either
mark very briefly, or not at all? Need
we always mark Easter, and Hallowe’en, and Christmas, or devote an entire
meeting to any of them - if every other club and school is covering them
anyway, not to mention the fact the girls will likely do so at home too in many
cases? Is there something original or
different that we do at these traditional festivals or is it just much the same
things the girls are doing elsewhere?
(Do they need or want every club for three full weeks before
Easter/Christmas to abandon all regular programmes in favour of non-stop craft,
food and parties?) Might the child who
doesn’t have both a father and a mother on the scene be glad to get a break
from mother’s day/father’s day publicity for an hour or so?) Can it be a balanced and varied programme if
we mark the same festivals every single year, in some cases for several
meetingsin a row, in a similar way every year?
And as we consider whether to
broaden our unit’s horizons, and help the girls think more internationally and
more diversely - we then hit the second big problem - our lack of knowledge
about the origin and meaning of some of these international festivals which we
might opt to mark. Which means we do run
the risk of making mistakes, and causing offence, through that lack of background
knowledge and understanding about the origins of the customs in question. For the thing is, with the familiar festivals
we don’t really have that problem. We’ve
grown up with them around us whether our families did much to mark them or not
- so we automatically know which ones can be celebrated in a silly/frivolous
way without many people minding ‘children having their fun’ – santas and
reindeer, dressing up as St George or the dragon, serving ‘mock haggis and
neeps’ whilst wearing bin-bag kilts etc.
But we also know which ones ought to have a more respectful approach,
giving thought and consideration to sensitive feelings and beliefs - like
Easter, or Remembrance, or hallowe’en.
But when it comes to festivals from other countries or cultures, we may
not be so clued up on which ones can be marked in silly ways, and which ones
could offer scope for significant
offence if we were to misjudge tone.
In the UK we might make poppy crafts in early November – but we wouldn’t
have a ‘poppy party’, and we would be very wary of ‘re-enacting’ a remembrance
ceremony with people dressed up in costumes and carrying improvised flags and mock
wreaths, wouldn’t we? And yet – nowhere
is it actually written down what is and what is not an appropriate way to teach
children about remembrance, so someone in another country or from another
culture coming across scanty details about ‘this festival that happens in
Britain where the people all wear bright red flowers and take part in big
parades through their towns with marching bands and flags’ - could easily
misjudge the tone of event, form a mental picture of ‘celebration parade’
rather than ‘sombre procession’. How
easy it would be for such a misinterpretaion to be made . . .
So before planning to mark a
festival with your unit, please, do as much research as possible about the
background to both how the people celebrate it, and more importantly, why they
celebrate it. Do not rely on online
information from children’s activity sites or from books about worldwide
festivals, unless it is also backed up by authoritative sources. Speak to someone who is actually from the
relevant country/culture/religion, to find out not just ‘what the locals do’
but why they do it, what significance or message lies behind the things that
are done, what is the atmosphere or mood?
Find out which parts are solemn or very meaningful, and which parts
might be taken more lightheartedly. Would
the person from that country/culture/religion think it an appropriate event for
the children to mark at all, and if so, how might children from that culture or
country mark it – and what would be appropriate or inappropriate for children
here to do?
Whatever sort of event you mark or celebrate – please also think cultural
appropriateness, not cultural appropriation.
Make sure you stay on the right side of the line between marking and
mocking. Be aware of sensitive cultural
traditions, and try to be both authentic and respectful - especially of native
or cultural art, music, dance and traditional customs/lore. Seek to understand and then explain ‘why’ to
the children, rather than risk it merely being seen as ‘this weird custom they
do in this faraway place for some unknown reason’. There is lots to learn about the world around
us and the range of cultures and belief systems followed by the people who
share it - if we approach with an open enquiring attitude, and a desire to
learn, understand and appreciate. But
before we can teach the girls, first we must take time to learn the background
information for ourselves . . .
And – keep festivals in their place.
As something we occasionally utilise as an excuse for the educational
activities we would like to do to broaden the girls’ horizons.
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