Guidance on Teaching About Holidays & Religion

Christmas and Hanukkah holiday design

When teaching about holidays and religions, a recent article in Teaching Tolerance (Favorite Holiday Poster Projects Aren’t Inclusion: An educator and mother recommends strategies for supporting all students’ religions and cultures, during the winter holidays and year-round) offers these helpful tips:

  • Ask questions: Know your students’ cultures and religions.
    • Take time to get to know the traditions and customs of your students by asking questions.
  • Move beyond cookie cutter themes: Teach about the holidays.
    • Rather than avoid holidays altogether, explicitly teach about important holidays and traditions.
  • Be timely: Teach about the holidays when they are celebrated.

Also, please see this guidance offered by the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and Harvard University’s Religious Literacy Project (RLP): AAR & Harvard RLP Competencies: A Teaching & Learning Practice.