Page 122 - TWO OF A KIND • Erik Renkema
P. 122

CHAPTER 5
this celebration, ‘values and norms need to be addressed’ in which the students recognize themselves. Students reflect on this content; this is a common theme in the teachers’ celebration perceptions. It seems that the values of school identity and religious education are more connected to the objective of being together and the focus on life experiences than to the attention for content as in the lessons of Christian and general education. Teachers do find that a celebration needs to be relevant to the students.
c. Togetherness
Teachers speak highly of respect, dialogue, and being and living together as key aspects to be expressed in the celebration. They emphasize that students are encouraged to explore differences and similarities between their personal views in the celebration. Focusing on this, the teachers move away from the common situation in which the students present songs, poems and plays to each other during celebrations and weekly closing ceremonies. In the newly designed celebration of exploring similarities and differences, the teachers acknowledge the regular lessons of general and Christian education.
6.3. The content of the design
6.3.1. The designed celebration
Students from 8-12 years old are gathered in the gym. They sit in small groups. Every group consists of students of every age, from both general and Christian education. Four teachers are present. One of the teachers welcomes everyone and explains what the students can expect.
First, photos of highlights of national and international news are shown on screen. The principal invites the students to watch the photos and to reflect individually on three questions: What do you see? What do you feel or think when you see these photos? Do you know other examples of this experience? After all the photos are shown, students are invited to discuss these questions in small groups.
After 5 minutes, the teacher asks a few students to answer the question in the plenary assembly. Then the same teacher reads a poem about friendship between two children.
Three questions are shown on screen: What do you hear when listening to this poem? What do you feel or think when you listening? Do you know other examples of the experience that is presented in this poem? When the reading of the poem is finished, the students discuss their answers
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