Some weeks ago I started preparing everything to teach my first graders things related to HALLOWEEN. They were extremely enthusiastic about the topic and they were waiting for the day to come. Finally, on October the 31st, we designed some cards that students ornamented with drawings of bats, witches, goblins and ghosts. They also designed pumpkin lanterns made of orange cardboards and decorated the borad with them.
We were all so enthusiatic. My students really enjoyed the tales I told them and then they made spectacular drawings illustrating them.
When we were drawing one student came and told me with dissapointment: "Teacher, I LOOVVVEEEEE Halloween with all my heart but my mom says I won´t celebrate it because it is not part of our culture".
Well, we all know Halloween is not part of our culture but, if it is a great excuse to teach tales, vocabulary and many other things then, what's the problem with it?
If we take a second to reflect, there are many things that are not part of our culture and we still take them.
Besides, I think we as teacher should teach not only the language but also the culture and I believe our students should be aware of different customs in different parts of the world. That's does not mean being disloyal to our country as many people believe.
Sometimes there are people that seem to be close-minded and, in a certain way, I can see their point since Argentinians have a "special" negative conception about the English language (which of couRSE I don't share) because of historial issues. People should learn that Halloween is actually a Celtic tradition celebrated ALL AROUND THE WORLD and that, if that serves as an excuse to teach and learn, LONG LIVE HALLOWEEN! :)
I think we as English teachers can teach many things related to the English culture as long as we make really clear that whatever we are teaching at the moment is part of the English culture and not ours. There's nothing wrong with the teaching of other cultures, in this case English, because we are teaching the language as well. So, I agree with you when you say we should teach both language and culture. However, I also think we should make it really explicit from the very beginning and tell our students that through and together with the language we can learn many things about the world
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Nadine. You know? I taught Halloween at school in the Practicum and I was told things about it as well. I know it is not part of our culture but, since you said, many things aren't. In all the world we, human beings, adopt things from the culture of other countries. Maybe we should try to see it differently. There's nothing wrong with treating Halloween as a cultural thing, it is general knowledge, it could be part of our schemata!! So, I think you're right, it is good to teach it so as to make students aware of different cultures held in the rest of the world!! =)
ReplyDeleteI think that the Halloween issue depends on the community. It depends on the uses of the parents and the children. If they do not want to cellebrate the occassion, it wouldn´t be cellebrated.
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