We begin the school year with the theme, Everyone is Welcome Here.
I've written about this theme often, and while it's often a heavy start-of-school conversation, I am convinced that it's the perfect way to start school since welcoming all means that everyone feels safe--safe to be there, safe to be proud of who they are, safe to speak up, and safe to work together. And we all know that children need to feel safe in order to learn, work together, and succeed.
For every grade level and developmental stage, this theme will present itself differently. As a fourth grade teacher we began with self portraits that included examining our skin shades, eye shapes, hair types/colors and more with the message that we're all perfectly who we should be and we should be proud of our personal traits and beauty. Later in the fourth grade year, students study their own culture or a culture of their choice to better understand their own diversity and the diversity of the world's people.
At fifth grade, I begin with the story of Earth--a story that scientists agree upon that follows Earth's history from the Big Bang until modern times. I discuss the fact that scientists believe we were all dark skinned to begin with, but as people moved to colder regions, skin shades grew lighter to support greater vitamin D and survival in those cold regions. I discuss the fact that greed was often the root of prejudices and racism since some people used others to gain fortune, privilege, and power. Over time people have worked for better lives, justice, and greater freedom.
I show videos about skin shade, respect for one another, teamwork, and history to relay these points. I give plenty of opportunity for students to discuss their questions, knowledge, and ideas.
While there's an urgency to get started with the expected curriculum, it's imperative that every classroom explicitly, developmentally, and sensitively relay the message that no prejudice is allowed in the classroom, and that every child has a right to their culture, religion, skin shade, body type, family make-up, geography, income, and other aspects of their unique story--there is no one way to be and we need to respect each other's individuality. It would be boring if we were all the same, and there is great opportunity in learning from one another. Everyone is welcome here.
(teacher reference)
