'Tis the Season to Think About Classroom Community
John Navarro, TU Galaxy Classroom Developer

Here in the U.S., the holiday season has just kicked into high gear. We are inundated with good spirits and season's tidings pouring from TVs, radios, and mall speakers. Many students come to school expecting this same sort of gear switching in the classroom. Some teachers hang decorations and ornaments. Others develop quirky holiday-related lessons. Still others will enrich the classroom community by having holiday parties or "Secret Santas." Teachers who go the extra mile to bring elements from the season and popular culture into class deserve our ultimate consideration. There is nothing more powerful than reflecting elements of the students' lives in their classrooms.

There is, as always, another side to this coin. The power of reflecting students' lives in the classroom can also be a powerful ingredient in their alienation from the classroom community. In many schools, especially in rapidly growing cities and suburbs, it is not uncommon to find a classroom represented by a dozen languages and ethnicities, religious beliefs, and socioeconomic backgrounds. There is unlimited potential and strength in truly diverse communities like these. This makes today's classroom a true crossroads of the world. The challenge of crossing social, cultural, and language barriers often presents itself as a barrier to popular education, however powerfully teachers meet this challenge everyday. Spending the time to know each of your students and where they are from strengthens the bonds in your classroom. Giving each student a place to let his or her ideas be heard and valued so that their classmates know who they are strengthens our communities. This kind of learning transcends all content areas.

Creating a community in the classroom is at the heart of powerful teaching and learning. Through this community, students find the space to trust each other and positively influence their cohorts. Tying in the cultural significance of the holidays can be tremendously powerful, but only if done in the context of a healthy classroom community. Otherwise, it may appear as a wasted day at best, or a biased and alienating day at worst, to those students whose cultures do not share in the media celebration that is our U.S. holiday season.

This is not to say we shouldn't celebrate holidays in our classrooms -- we should. More importantly, we should celebrate students in our classrooms. The holidays shouldn't be treated as a time when we "have" to play reindeer games. Nor should they be treated as a time to keep school and life separate. Holidays are the opportunity to learn about and celebrate facets of culture. This opportunity should be presented to students if they are to value holiday-related instruction.

Ask yourself these questions as you enter this holiday season with your class:

• What kinds of things do you do to celebrate holidays in your classroom?
• Do you celebrate any of the non-traditional US holidays in your classroom?
• How do you celebrate other cultures in your classroom?
• How do you create a community in your classroom?

John Navarro is a former science and math teacher with the ACTION Academy, a nationally recognized service-learning academy, and has also taught in inner-city high schools.

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