鈥楾is the season for educators鈥� to warily walk on eggnog shells, asking themselves: How much should we acknowledge Christmas? What about other holidays that happen this time of year, like Hannukah and Kwanzaa?
Navigating cultural differences, trying to celebrate while also trying to be inclusive, can color everything from holiday d茅cor, to what breaks are called on the school calendar, to what music the high school choir chooses for its winter concert.
But are those the right conversations for educators to have? Is it safer for educators鈥攚ho have plenty of other things to worry about鈥攖o just avoid all this messy religious stuff? Or is teaching about religious differences and celebrations part of schools鈥� broader responsibility to educate children about the world they live in? And if so, why just in December, when holidays happen all year long?
Education Week put those and other questions to Shomari Jones, the director of equity and strategic engagement for the Bellevue, Wash., school district, and a 2019 Education Week Leader To Learn From.
This interview鈥攃onducted over Zoom鈥攈as been edited for brevity and clarity.
Is it best to handle these important questions by just deciding, 鈥渨e鈥檙e just not going to talk about this in school?鈥� Can religion be a part of multiculturalism without making everyone uncomfortable?
Yeah. I don鈥檛 want you to seek to convert me to a religion or belief that is not mine. But I absolutely want to celebrate you for how you identify, how you show up, and for the things that are important to you.
When I was a young person, because we were in a dominantly Christian society, we celebrated Christmas in school. We had trees in school and teachers decorated [classrooms] . Well, that has evolved immensely since I was a young person. And now we just don鈥檛 do that, and won鈥檛.
I have been in school districts that [still] do that. And they happen to be in communities that have smaller demographic mixes, smaller amounts of racial and cultural diversity. And maybe that鈥檚 OK for them. I guarantee it is not OK for all the people who they鈥檙e going to interface with. But because they don鈥檛 get a lot of [negative] feedback, likely, they鈥檙e going to continue.
And I鈥檓 not mad at that. But I would like to think that, if you鈥檙e going to celebrate religion, that you celebrate them all. Let鈥檚 talk about Yom Kippur [the Jewish day of atonement], let鈥檚 celebrate when Muslims are having their religious holidays and particularly when they鈥檙e going through Ramadan [a holy month of fasting and prayer].
I would like to think that, if you're going to celebrate religion, that you celebrate them all.
Tell me more about the community where you grew up, in Gary, Indiana. How did you talk about Christmas and other holidays?
My community was incredibly homogenous. I grew up in a Black-only community. We may have had one white kid. And there were very similar, very shared beliefs in the community. [Other students in my school] celebrated Christmas just the same way that I celebrated Christmas at home. I didn鈥檛 learn a single thing about a different culture.
I didn鈥檛 learn the nuances of different religious communities until probably middle school when I moved out of Gary to a more diverse community in Chicago. That鈥檚 where I met Jewish students. There were white Catholic students. Not that we talked about these things, and it wasn鈥檛 a part of our curriculum.
Now, [religious diversity] is incredibly hard to avoid. The racial mix [in Bellevue] is extraordinary. [69传媒鈥� families come] from a multitude of Asian countries, a multitude of African countries, some Christians, some Muslim. Lots of folks are [from India] so lots of celebration of religion and culture within the Indian community.
Do you think that kids in school districts where everybody is from the same background can still benefit from learning about other cultures?
As director of equity in education, I鈥檒l often get folks who will tell me 鈥淲ell, I don鈥檛 serve any Black kids or you know, I don鈥檛 interface a lot with those cultures. So, I should be good on this racial equity front.鈥� I鈥檓 like, 鈥渘ah, that鈥檚 not how that works.鈥�
It鈥檚 important for us to ensure that everyone has an understanding of who the contributors to our society are, what their makeup is. I just think it is so vital that we prepare our kids for the world that they鈥檙e entering.
It sounds like not talking about religion as a part of multiculturalism is sort of a deficit. So what should it look like, in your opinion?
I think that an education around the differences that people bring to the table would be ideal. I think about kindergarten all the time and story time and what stories are we telling? And which stories are we reading? And who does it represent and how does it represent the people in the classroom in front of you? Imagine being a student who has this specific belief, seeing myself reflected in a book or story and celebrated by others, feeling like I belong in this place and in this space. That just feels good.
It needs to be an acknowledgement and somewhere interwoven into curriculum that informs young people in particular who they are working with. They can make conscious decisions on how to celebrate one another. It doesn鈥檛 need to be our responsibility to celebrate. It needs to be our responsibility as an education institution to provide education and provide information.
Can you point to an example in K-12 education of what this looks like when it鈥檚 done right?
Outside the K-12 experience, there are things that happen on college campuses all the time that are brilliant and awesome. And it鈥檚 an opt in, the opt-in model is wonderful. It鈥檚 like 鈥榣et鈥檚 host an opportunity for folks to expose or educate or celebrate who they are.鈥� And if you鈥檇 like to be a part of that, come on, come through.
The most multi-cultural school I鈥檝e ever worked in did a culture night every year. And everyone brought everything, and they brought their whole selves. Massive amounts of food for you to explore from different cultures, varying types of dances being performed. It just felt so good. I would love to find a way to like, slide religion in there. I don鈥檛 know how I would do that, without it feeling promotional, right?
I do think that throughout the year, knowing when the opportunities are arising, where there are holidays or celebrations emerging that are representative of a particular religion, I do think it鈥檚 our responsibility to say, 鈥渕aybe not you, but others in our community are celebrating this and I鈥檇 like to tell you a little bit more about it. You know, I鈥檒l read a book, or we鈥檒l have a class discussion or a visitor or guest who can answer some questions. Or we might watch a video.鈥� Something that helps to really provide a removal of this veil that a lot of us have in our ignorance to other people鈥檚 lives, and perspectives and religions and experiences.
Why should schools make this a year-round thing?
If I had it my way, it鈥檇 be a yearlong or at least a substantially long conversation that includes the voices of many, many people. It鈥檚 not too dissimilar from Black History Month. Why are we talking about Black people in February right? Like, come on. Black people are still out there in March.
What about people who don鈥檛 identify with a particular religious community: atheists, agnostics, non-believers?
I think they鈥檙e in the conversation. I mean, they鈥檙e believers, their belief is that something doesn鈥檛 [exist]. I think it鈥檚 a valuable perspective to have. My hope is that we don鈥檛 seek to influence others in their beliefs. We don鈥檛 shame people for who they are, we accept them for who they are. My hope is that nonbelievers, while in the state of non-believing, are open to and willing to learn what others鈥� beliefs are and how others govern their lives. Because that鈥檚 the way we build community.
Our 2023 edition of Leaders To Learn From comes out in February. Stay tuned for timely perspectives from LTLF alumni. What topics should we delve into in the future? Which past leader would you like to hear from? Email aklein@educationweek.org or dsuperville@educationweek.org with your ideas.
