To Teach Or Not To Teach

While teaching a lesson about Christmas last week I noticed that some of the students either didn't want  or didn't care to learn about Christmas, or that they were misinformed about the holiday. This issue continues to surface in our everyday teachings.  Should we teach about other cultures, religions and holidays? And if yes, how much should we teach?

I believe that part of learning is having general knowledge and not just knowing the difference between count and non-count nouns. Part of general knowledge includes the notion that we all are part of something bigger; a world that extends beyond our country's borders. To be included in this requires understanding that there are diverse cultures and traditions all around us.  The more we learn about other cultures, the less misconceptions and stereotypes we will have. Educating today's youth (as well as ourselves) about different  cultures will hopefully make for a generation of more knowledgeable, tolerant and respectful people.

Even within our own families, there is diversity. Some of us have religious and non religious relatives, relatives from different counties and different ethnic backgrounds. Should we not learn about these differences? Should we not talk about them? By openly discussing and learning about the differences we gain not only knowledge but learn more about ourselves and our place in the world.

Most of today's textbooks take a multicultural approach. A sixth grade textbook has an entire unit on London. One of the fifth grade books talks about different types of houses around the world. A fourth grade books shows food and clothes from various countries. This reinforces my opinion that we need to educate to these values beginning at a young age because what is learned in the formative years shape who we become as adults. 

"The Shine" by Stephen King

"The Shine" by Stephen King

I would like to recommend you to read this book. When i read it i felt that it took me to a journey in the author's mind.

Travelled to a deserted landscape- following the Father's occupation- as an hotel manager. 

Then the mystery plot starts. The reader discovers that the hotel is hunted.

Gradually- all the members of the family became victims that were captured in the history of the place and the reader is followed through the breath taking plot into a parallel reality.

The reason i chose this book is that Stephan King is a master as far as creating atmosphere of fantasy- beyond any one can imagine and his writing gives perspective as well as entertainment.

Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman

Its hard to believe that I, who grew up not knowing that I am dyslexic (my mother didn't tell me until I was expecting my first child), would become an avid reader and book lover. There are many great books that I could write about but I chose to tell you about a nice book that can be taught in the Israeli classroom. The Jelly library in Bakaa has 50 copies and the story is suitable for all ages.

The book is Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman. It's actually a collection of vignettes about the development of a community garden. A vignette is when an author writes about a specific moment, setting, character or object. Blogs, diary entries and poetry are all vignettes. In Seedfolks, each chapter tells the development of a community garden through the eyes of a single character. There isn't a beginning, middle or end to any of the chapters and there isn't a plot. Each character, mostly immigrants, tells how he  or she got involved with the community garden and how the garden improved their lives. Some of the characters meet other characters from the book, and others don't.  Most of the characters have an issue in their life that the community garden helps ease. Because each chapter can stand on its own, not all chapters need to be read for the reader to understand the story, making it a good choice in the EFL classroom.

Fleischman wrote the chapters such that each chapter shows the growth of the community garden. In the first chapter, Kim, a young girl, incidentally begins the garden when she plants six lima beans. In the second chapter, a nosy neighbour, helps keep the saplings alive by making sure they get watered. In the third chapter, another neighbour is inspired by Kim and begins his own patch in the vacant lot and so on and so on. By the end of the 13th chapter, the community garden is temporarily abandoned because its winter. The reader has met thirteen diverse characters, has had a glimpse into their lives and is witness to the transformation of a vacant lot into a garden then brings meaning to the lives of its participants. Many themes are expressed in this short book (102 pp) such as diversity, community, stereotypes, meeting challenges, people reconnecting to nature and the power to make a change.

I like this book because of its positive messages.  Any one of the themes in Seedfolks would make for a great topic in the classroom. Written for children, the language is relatively easy making this book a great choice for Junior High or elementary native speakers. The vignette style is also friendly for language learners, but most of all, its the optimistic messages that make this a fabulous read in the classroom.

My very own plate of chocolate balls

Mother's day.

Remember that day from childhood?

Silly, simple hand-made presents your mother never really needed or used?

Stained, misspelled thank-you notes attached to the heap of chocolate balls lying on a plate in the middle of the debris that used to be your mother's kitchen?

It was silly, indeed. But nevertheless, it was your one chance to meditate, even if it was just to a limited extent, on who makes it all happen. Who enables you to have that "the whole world orbits around me" perspective on life. To say thank you, and mean it. To acknowledge what you have, and who gave it to you. In my opinion, it is very important to learn how to do that when you're young.

I grew up. And became a mother. Only to find that Mother's day disappeared. Has been cruelly taken away, never to come back. It was replaced by this politically-correct, post-post-modern, meaningless creature of "Family's day".

And now, instead of enthusiastic kids doing their best in hand crafting, you find hectic parents led by their children anywhere they can spend some money, buying a product or an experience, always designed for ages up to 14, trying to figure out what it is exactly they are supposed to be celebrating. In this consumerist society in which parents have to work too many hours, in order to support their families, whom they get to spend too little time with, and try to make up for that by wasting too much money on presents - that's not really what we need. More of the same.

When trying to find out the reasons for the mysterious abduction of Mother's day I came across two possible reasons:

One being the modern society in which gender roles are pretty fluid and mobile, and are distributed much more equally between couples. No place for Mother's day if she's not the main caretaker anymore.

Another reason is a change in modern family structure .Now you can find families of all shapes and sizes and some of them don't include a mother, at least not the biological one.

Well, what I suggest in order to adapt to the changes in the traditional family structure, while keeping the focus of the day on the caretakers, and not giving the kids another day to excercise their egocentricity is as follows:

1. Keep Mother's day to mothers, and set another date for Father's day. That way fathers will get acknowledged as well. And same-sex couples can choose whether to celebrate on the day corresponding to both parents, or divide them into more traditional family roles, regardless of their gender. Divorced couples will then get the chance to celebrate with their children - each in his or her turn.

2. Change Mother's day into "Parents' day", and then both parents get their share of celebration, and everybody will be cherished and happy.

And I'll finally get my share of a kitchen in ruin, and my plate of chocolate balls!

What do you think?