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  Case: Christmas around the world.
My son goes to second grade. The first week of December my son's teacher started a short unit on Christmas around the world. As part of this unit, she asked each child to bring some type of food from a country for a Christmas celebration at school. She assigned the countries to the children and sent notes to children's homes in their communication folders. As a parent I do not have a problem with any of this. Here is what is puzzling to me. I immigrated to the US about 15 years ago from France. My wife is from Romania. My son was born in the US but he has strong French and Romanian cultural roots. I believe his teacher knows about my son's cultural background. However, my son was assigned to bring German food for the Christmas celebration. As a parent, I cannot understand why he was not assigned to bring French or Romanian food. What could be the teacher's reasoning? Should I be upset about this? Wouldn't it be better for my son to represent a part of his heritage in the classroom?
Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!)
The teacher's aim with this assignment most likely is to educate the students about ways of celebrating Christmas that differ from their own. Having your son bring in examples of the customs he already celebrates won't require him to do any research or learning on other cultures. Having students research cultures different from their own ensures that all will learn something new and all will have to research and think about their project more deeply. I wouldn't be upset about it; I think the teacher just had the best interest of the class in mind. It would be unfair for one student to have to research extensively about an unfamiliar culture while one simply brings in what is an integral, daily part of their lives. If you still have qualms about the assignment, I would talk to the teacher about it candidly and see exactly what her reasoning is. Perhaps she could have a day in the future where students bring in an artifact from their own cultural background; this would allow your son to represent a part of his heritage.
 
     
     
  Rating
The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes
The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes
The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes
The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes
The suggested solution is original Yes
Comments:
Rated On: February 25, 2013 10:41 am
Rated By:
 
     
     
  Rating
The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes
The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes
The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes
The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes
The suggested solution is original Yes
Comments: I feel the teachers aim for this assignment was to expand the students knowledge of others background as well as their own.
Rated On: October 18, 2014 5:16 pm
Rated By: Amanda Meredith
 
     
     
  Rating
The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes
The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes
The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes
The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes
The suggested solution is original Yes
Comments: agreed
Rated On: November 13, 2022 9:16 pm
Rated By: buTuDe