Teresa Draguicevich
Elementary Educator
helping children step into the future together
Our children are inheriting a world with complex social, ecological and financial problems. There are no easy or quick fixes. Finding solutions will require collaboration among innovators from diverse backgrounds. Effective educational environments need to encourage children to appreciate and celebrate different cultures while strengthening a connection to their own family heritage. After all, we can’t collaborate with those we don’t respect or understand. Not only does fostering an appreciation for each family’s unique heritage provide students with the perspective necessary to collaborate and thrive in tomorrow’s world, but also it creates a strong sense of community today. The classroom becomes a place where everyone feels an authentic sense of belonging, both students and parents. Although such an endeavor must permeate the very fabric of all aspects of school life to have real meaning, events that afford us the opportunity to pause and spotlight diversity have value as well. So, at the end of the fall semester, I collaborated with colleagues, students and their parents to plan a diversity awareness event; one that afforded each family an opportunity to share its unique cultural or religious customs. We called it the HLC World Festival. HLC stands for Home Learning Community and refers to an independent study program at Innovations Academy, a K-8 public charter school in San Diego, California. This program provides cooperative group explorations and project learning two days each week for parents who seek a more structured group learning experience for their homeschooled children. Although, an event like this serves a limited purpose since it is a somewhat staged celebration, it does foster an attitude of appreciation beyond mere tolerance that can and does have far reaching effects for community building. The following outlines the planning process, reflections and more importantly the awareness that a World Festival instills in its participants.
HLC World Festival
Celebrating our cultural and religious heritage
Promoting a sense of world citizenship
Honoring the diversity in our learning community
Setting the Stage
An event of this magnitude requires buy-in early from key stake holders, because parents, students and teachers must contribute in order for it to be an effective celebration. That means giving parents advance notice through emails, informal conversations during conferences, flyers and blogs. This serves a twofold purpose. First, it respects their busy schedules by giving them an opportunity to plan ahead. The time required for this project definitely extends beyond the four walls of the classroom and requires that students and families work some at home to prepare displays for booths. Second, it is vital to ascertain parents’ comfort level ahead of time, since this event immerses their children in an educational environment that might extend beyond their current experience and comfort zone. Therefore, giving advance notice not only allows them to mark their calendars, but also to consult with me about any questions they might have about the purpose for the event. I found that personal conversations early on allowed me to support families who had concerns, especially since religious belief is often intricately woven into culture. For instance, families who follow the Jehovah Witness religion do not celebrate any holiday and need time to determine if this event conflicts with their belief system, and atheist families also appreciate the opportunity to prepare their children ahead of time. Even though many families are familiar with events like this, not everyone has had experience participating in cultural celebrations. Transparency and accessibility on my part increases eager participation on parents’ part.
In addition to parent buy-in, children need to see the value of co-designing a world festival. During school, I worked with students to build their excitement and encourage them to take ownership for their part in the collaboration. Initially, the students and I prepared a questionnaire, so that we could chart our cultural heritage on a world map. They interviewed their parents and grandparents to find out from what countries their family originated. Also on the map, we tracked our other metaphoric travels around the world. For instance, we compared and contrasted different versions of the same story from different countries, including The Gingerbread Man and Stone Soup. Then, we “tasted the world” by creating a friendship fruit salad, a collaborative effort that included researching and mapping the origins of each fruit before working together to wash, cut and eat the ingredients. By exploring the world together, we began to appreciate the differences and more importantly the similarities that we share with people from different countries and cultures. This is our world map, along with some photos of the international friendship feast that students worked together to prepare.
Lastly, a planning a festival requires collaboration among colleagues as well. Both of the teachers that I am fortunate enough to team with work to build upon the passions and interests of their own students, in the same way that I do. That means in the context of our program’s limited time constraints, we needed to carefully explore the value of investing the energy required to prepare for an event like this, as well as to determine the interest level of each group. In the end, we secured full participation of all three classes. To further build momentum, I worked closely with one class to “travel around the world” through more literature, arts and crafts, music and movement. Each student made a travel suitcase to store the “souvenirs” he/she made from each country we visited. As teachers, we chose countries based upon the survey results of our students. Through careful planning, we spotlighted each student’s cultural heritage in some fashion, often including parent presentations.
We called this exploration the “Teaching Peace” trip. And along the way, we discovered together what peace looks like within us, our classroom, our communities and the world. One of the older HLC students created the documentary about peace at the top of this page. He interviewed the children who had “travelled around the world” in order to find out what peace means to them after taking such a trip. The following is a link to the video that he presented at the HLC World Festival. His presentation ended with the oldest group of learners teaching the participants how to say Peace in many different languages, something they researched and practiced ahead of time, choosing languages that either interested them or represented their family origin.
Peace in Many Languages Presentation
Family Booths
Finally, in December, we hosted the HLC World Festival in the school’s large multi-purpose room and included class displays of our “souvenirs” from our peace travels. Families supported the event by creating more displays, providing food for the international potluck or visiting the booths. Fifty-five families participated. Including other guest adults and staff from the school community, there were more than 150 people in attendance. In addition, we chose to extend the invitation to the general home learning community. We forged connections with three families not enrolled at the school that joined us, with one family sharing their Bolivian culture by setting up a booth display and by wearing the clothing of the indigenous people from that region. Participants used the passport we created as a guide to visit each display, receiving a stamp for each booth explored. The 26 displays included everything from Hanukkah, Eid, a Jamaican Tasting booth, the Winter Solstice, a German Christmas, a Mexican cultural display and a Vietnamese New Year. Along the way, everyone was invited to visit the Japanese Tanabata tree and hang their selfless wish for the world on its leaves and branches, as well as to stop by the world map to choose their next place to visit. The event, lasting two and a half hours, closed with the international potluck, a collaborative clean- up by parents and students and then further clean-up efforts by the teachers! Though hosting the event represented more than 60 collective hours on our part as educators, it was well worth the effort to tangibly demonstrate the beautiful diversity of the families in this learning community, because ultimately children learn what they live.
Travel Suticases with artifacts from our classroom "Trip around the World."
Students and families visit each other's displays, using a passport to guide their travels.
Students share their religious and cultural perspective of the world with each other.
Families, parents and children collaborate to create cultural displays.
The Japanese Tanabata Tree holds our self-less wishes for the world.
Parents model accepting and celebrating diversity, while at the same time maintaining pride in one's own heritage and beliefs.
The Importance of Community Building
How important is an event like this to community building? How does it help in creating an equitable and effective learning environment for all students? What impact does it have on student learning? The answer to these questions begins by considering the basic human needs that we all share. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, human beings achieve more when they feel accepted. However, our schools, which reflect society, often perpetuate the unhealthy and opposite attitude that acceptance remains contingent upon achievement. “Despite the essential importance of belonging as a precursor to the development of self-esteem and the motivation to pursue education, it is interesting to note that this is the one level of Maslow’s hierarchy for which schools provide little nurturance or assistance (Kunc, 1992, p. 2).” In order to build upon the basic human need to feel a sense of belonging, we must implicitly and explicitly convey that everyone is a valued member of the learning community. Among other things, this means valuing culture. In addition, teachers must not be the only ones who appreciate diversity. In order to weave a strong fabric of community life that supports every student, there must be more than one weaver in every classroom. As teacher, consultant and companion on each family’s learning journey, I am privileged to witness the rich diversity of culture, educational philosophy, socioeconomic level and religion that make up the HLC program. Rather than viewing these differences as a deficit or potential cause for contention, I consider them an asset. They serve as tools that can broaden the scope of each student’s vision, increasing their capacity to learn the skills necessary in today’s world. Students and parents need to gain the vantage point that I have by becoming aware of and having the opportunity to acknowledge the important contributions that each family brings to the learning environment. I must provide the support structures to build this common framework by creating the space for this to occur. At the HLC World Festival, children have that space to participate alongside adults in the celebration of diversity. Adults don’t just talk about accepting and honoring each other’s differences, they work within the support structures provided to model it. In this way, the event serves a dual purpose because it broadens vision for all participants, focusing on differences of thought and background as an advantage rather than a deficit, while also educating the participants about the diversity of the learning community to which they belong.
As important as events like the festival are, educating people about the value of diversity must go deeper if it is to have a lasting and meaningful impact on community building. This begins by bringing to light some uncomfortable, insidious realities that influence our choices without our conscious awareness. For instance, “The perception that some children are normal and others are deficient and therefore need to be repaired in some way is still a concomitant of a society that values uniformity rather than diversity (Kunc, 1992, p. 5).” Once aware, most of us consciously push back against this kind of thinking. Yet, so much of the time, we subconsciously continue to measure the value of each other (and ourselves) against a middle class, white, Anglo-Saxon protestant, non-handicapped norm which leaves most falling short of the perceived ideal. Though the US Census tells us this norm no longer exists, the myth persists for many. In the 2010, United States Census Report, surveys reveal that less than half of the more than thirty-seven million people in California, identified themselves as white. Nationwide, just a little more than half of all participants self-identified as white, a less than one percent increase over the last decade. In addition, the census report itself is available in sixty different languages. Our children represent this variety of backgrounds.
It’s commonly accepted that “Effective programs and instructional approaches must begin with a compassionate understanding of [our] students (Walqui, 2000, p. 12).” And yet, so many schools today still seem to ignore a student’s culture or status if it doesn’t measure up against this middle class myth. Freire cautions that as human beings “We have a strong tendency to affirm that what is different from us is inferior (2005, p. 127).” Do schools ignore cultures that are different from the implied standard, myth or not, because these cultures are deemed inferior? Subconsciously perhaps; but whether this attitude is explicitly stated or not, and I propose most of the time it is not, parents feel it. On a deep level, they understand that “the ability of individuals to express their culture is related to the power that certain groups are able to wield in the social order. The expression of values and beliefs by individuals who share certain historical experiences is determined by their collective power in society (Mclaren, 2009, p.65).” Usually, leaders do not even realize that they are perpetuating inequity in the school environment by inadvertently overlooking a family’s culture.
When this happens it proves unfortunate, because including family culture in the classroom can positively impact student learning. In Funds of Knowledge for Teaching, Moll observed a rise is student performance and parent involvement after including family culture as a learning tool. During home visits, teachers in this study became aware of the valuable contributions that previously unresponsive families had to make to the learning in the classroom. By expanding the definition of culture to include the accumulated knowledge in each family, their “analysis of funds of knowledge represents a positive view of households as containing ample cultural and cognitive resources with great, potential utility for classroom instruction (Moll, 2001, p.134).” If we fail to educate ourselves as school leaders about the culture, language and lifestyle choices of the families we serve, then we miss valuable learning opportunities. Most importantly, if we want to include parents effectively, then we must meet them as they are, not as we imagine them to be. Otherwise, we risk alienating them. If parents do not feel welcomed, then their children will bring this feeling with them into the classroom, whether consciously or not. In most school settings, this could go unnoticed because families automatically educate their children at school. However, parents who choose to exercise their freedom to home school will simply leave a place they do not feel welcomed. In the HLC, this affords us a unique opportunity to accurately gauge the effectiveness of our efforts to include a household’s fund of knowledge in the school setting. The good news is that the HLC World Festival celebrates cultural and religious differences, makes us publicly and collectively honors funds of knowledge, educates families about each other and takes the first steps towards providing a foundation on which further community building can build. In this way, we consciously begin to replace subconscious toxic thought patterns with new, realistic standards by which we measure ourselves and each other.
Feedback from Participants Inspires Reflection
During and following the event, we received valuable feedback to determine if our goals for the event were realized and to guide our next steps. For instance, careful observation during the event revealed parents from all walks of life interacting with each other joyfully. Because we established a safe and supportive atmosphere with our opening statements, peace video and language lesson, parents who previously reported apprehension, shared that they wholeheartedly appreciated the opportunity for their children to learn about the backgrounds and cultures of other families. Rather than diminish their own belief system, they acknowledged that the event actually strengthened children’s identity and connection to their own customs. In general, parents expressed support for hosting another festival next year by making plans to collaborate with each other, expressing gratitude and offering suggestions. It became clear that the World Festival atmosphere fostered a spirit of community.
Other staff and teacher participants expressed a desire for all classrooms in the school to have an opportunity to “travel around the HLC world.” Since the Innovations Academy five-day program includes 350 students, this will require some careful planning on our part. Some of the constructive feedback we received from participants is that although they appreciated that the layout included an efficient use of the space, it still felt cramped. Even though we had reserved the multipurpose room several months in advance, we still needed to share half of it with the drama teacher who was setting the stage for an upcoming production. These are the realities of working collaboratively in a school community and something that we must continually consider when planning events, especially if we want to extend our invitation to more classrooms. At any rate, my colleagues and I are considering this possibility, as well as the option of making the HLC World Festival an Innovations Academy World Festival. With more families contributing, as well as more space to maneuver, we could offer this service to more visitors. My perception of Scripps Ranch is that this area of San Diego could benefit from some diversity awareness training. However, the buy in from key stakeholders, in this case other teachers in the school, must be whole-hearted for the event to have the most impact. It would require utilizing staff development time over the summer to present the proposal and determine support. In addition, we need to consult more before taking any action, because our intent with the event is to strengthen the identity of the HLC as a program. Even though turning the HLC World Festival into a school wide event could potentially weave the HLC more intricately into the fabric of the school itself, the community building we strive for in our program might get overshadowed or diluted. It remains vital to maintain a balance in this regard.
Honoring Student Voice in the Process
Ultimately, we prioritize student voice in the process, and students’ connections to each other more than connections to the larger school community, as positive as this goal is. Though these goals might not be exclusive of each other, I am clear about prioritizing the HLC students, because I want this festival to belong to them. That’s why I was overjoyed when several older HLC students approached us, requesting to reserve a choice location for their booth next year, as well as offer suggestions themselves. It might be interesting to ask several students to serve on a task force to set up the booths, design the lay out and take reservations ahead of time. There are many other options for increasing student voice as well. Students could plan multicultural performances, such as an international fashion show where children wear the native costumes of their country of origin, or perhaps present mini plays that highlight folk tales from around the world. Perhaps a team could study the U.N. Rights of the Child document and then spearhead the creation of a “Teaching Peace Treaty” that all participants sign at the event. When student voice increases and they become more intimately involved in every aspect of the planning, the possibilities really open up.
Children often think of more creative and innovative approaches than adults. For instance, though our guidance included students researching their own family heritage, choosing what to share at their display booths and planning with parents, some students found it more interesting to learn about a culture different from their own and present that. At first glance this seems slightly different than the original intent of the event. However, upon more careful reflection, it becomes clear that encouraging families to take “cultural plunges” where they explore cultures beyond their own has an added value. If we want our children to appreciate diversity and be able to work with people from all backgrounds, then we must accustom them (and ourselves) to differences of ethnicity, language and belief systems. Recent research on effective leadership reveals the value of working with diversity and the necessity of collaborating with different thinkers from different backgrounds because, “It makes a group unstoppable. Working with people of different backgrounds doesn't just give the group a different point of view; it makes you reassess your own. This is extremely powerful because we are all trapped in what we've previously learnt (Hunt, 2009, p.71-72).” When viewed in this light, one can clearly see how student voice actually deepens the learning. In addition, when encouraging children to take the lead, it is important to proceed slowly and collaboratively in the co-design process. That‘s because my own biases about the importance of the event and my enthusiasm for its goals, might lead me to overshadow their ideas or silence their questions. Deci’s, Self-Determination Theory (2008), reminds us that students are most motivated when the questions come from them and outlines how critical autonomous motivation is across all cultures to overall psychological health and well-being (p.183). That means that if in the co-designing process, the students want to collaborate with the larger school community or neighborhood as a service project, then it makes sense to extend the efforts to that end. Otherwise, the World Festival provides a valuable foundation for further learning just as it is now, since it encourages children to express their vision of the world through their own unique cultural lens.
Extending the Learning into the Classroom and Beyond
Now, the task remains to build upon this foundation by creating an equitable learning environment at school. During the World Festival, children become informed about the joy of celebrating differences and similarities. In class, children can learn to value and honor each other even more, especially when equity informs all decisions. In the Promise of Inclusive Education it says, “Inclusion is an effort to make sure that diverse learners-those with disabilities, different languages and cultures, different homes and family lives, different interests and ways of learning-are exposed to teaching strategies that reach them as individual learners.” Many of the inclusive, equitable techniques that work in a five day program work in this half time program as well, providing the support structures needed to create the safe environment for deeper learning. For instance, as educators, we need to choose literature that represents student reality, as well as expands upon it. Classroom projects must have multiple points of entry and honor student voice. In addition, we must employ a variety of structured and unstructured grouping strategies. And most importantly, we need to allow ample time and support for conflict resolution. When I do this, I witness children becoming positively grounded in their identity as learners. I see them eagerly and respectfully collaborating. However, as an educator with more experience in a five day program, my greatest challenge remains to slow down and apply a less is more strategy with my young learners. If I am not mindful, then I find myself pushing to complete a five day race in the two days we have together, even it means carrying my students across the project finish line instead of letting them cross it on their own. When I rush us, then I risk compromising time for lasting conflict resolution or inadvertently minimize student voice. That’s why an event like the HLC World Festival has value for me. It reminds me that joyfully learning to work together, celebrating the uniqueness of each individual and community building far outweighs the merits of a completed to-do list, because these are what foster team building, inspire inquiry, encourage risk taking and empower collaboration.
Currently, the world remains fragmented in its attempt to find solutions to the challenges it faces. That’s because nations and peoples fail to see themselves as members of one human family. Baha’u’llah, the prophet-founder of my faith once said, “So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.” We must provide our children with opportunities to develop the skills necessary to make this vision a reality, since our generation has yet to foster a strong sense of community, globally. Supporting events like the HLC World Festival serves as an important first step towards building a microcosm of that common framework. In this way, we can enhance our children’s ability to work together today. Then perhaps, in the future they might skillfully leverage their own diversity in order to collectively solve the complex problems plaguing a world they remain destined to inherit.
Deci, E. and Ryan, R. (2008). Self-determination theory: A macro theory of human motivation, development, and health. Canadian Psychology, 49, 3, 182-185.
Freire, P. (2005). Letter eight: Cultural identity and education. Teachers as cultural workers: Letters to those who dare to teach, Chapter 8. New York: Perseus Books.
Hunt, J. (2009). The Art of the Idea. Powerhouse Books: Brooklyn, NY.
Kunc, N. (1992). “The Need to Belong: Rediscovering Maslow’s Hierachy of Needs”. In: Villa, R.,Thousand, J., Stainback, W. & Stainback,, S. Restructuring for Caring & Effective Education. Baltimore: Paul Brookes, 1992.
McLaren, P. (2009). Critical pedagogy: A look at the major concepts. Chap. 3 in The Critical Pedagogy Reader. New York: Routledge. Second Edition.
Moll, C., Amanti, C., Neff, D. & Gonzalez, N. (2001) Funds of knowledge: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory into Practice, volume XXXI, number 2, Spring 1992.
Walqui, A. (2000). Access and engagement: Program design and instructional approaches for immigrant students in secondary school. Center for Applied Linguistics. Chapter 1.
Peace Video: What does peace mean to us?
Director: Aiden Keltner