To provide a bright educational future for the youth of Bangladesh, schools across the country must create meaningful, safe, and supportive learning environments. One only has to glance over recent news items to understand the challenges, problems, and pressures children nowadays face.
According to a study report published in BMJ Psychiatry, 73.5% of the school-going adolescents in the country are experiencing stress symptoms. When the study was published, the researchers commented that exposure to cultural activities and other extracurricular things like debates can help learners overcome such stress and become more active in the classrooms and learning process. This is where the role of celebrations at schools comes in.
In this context, it is mentionable that educators, in recent times, are not only expected to teach academic skills to the children but also to prepare them for life. That’s why equipping children with emotional and social skills is a growing interest among educators now.
Creating a sense of community in the classroom is an essential way of fostering competence in emotional and social skills. For example, celebrations can be used to build a sense of school community, recapture the joy in learning, ease transitions, acknowledge achievements and efforts, and show gratitude. The practice of numerous celebrations accomplishes and maintains a classroom learning community. Celebrations have the magical power to take everyone out of their mundane routine of daily life, especially the children and teachers.
Educators should celebrate various cultures yearly to foster global awareness among children. Cultural day helps create empathy and understanding, transcends geographical barriers and exposure to different values, and enriches their perspective of diverse cultures. Celebrations mean people get the chance to be creative and decorate and organize events in such a way that will heighten the enjoyment. It allows educators to create fun activities for the children and allow them to decorate. Such initiatives expose them to diverse art forms. Whether it’s painting, sculpture, or decorating the doors with paper crafts, arts have unique powers of stimulating children's imagination and curiosity, while also promoting creativity.
Any kind of celebration can bring people together and forge connections, which helps build a thriving community filled with fruitful collaboration and respect. By coming together, the students can interact with other peers, teachers, staff, and parents, which helps break the differences and establish a cohesive environment. It also promotes inclusivity, as celebrating various cultures or events sends a clear and powerful message of acceptance and unity. Cultural celebrations ensure children are part of the community, regardless of background, gender, or race.
School celebrations of multiple cultures and events lay a strong foundation of inclusivity, establish a healthy learning environment, and promote diversity. Besides, celebration breaks the monotony of regular classes and ensures dynamic and enriching educational experiences.
School celebrations are not simple festivity occasions, but they can play vital roles in shaping the overall development of students and helping them embrace cultural and national awareness. These engaging and interactive events help children develop ethics, creativity, academics, and community involvement.
Rumayla Mannan is Activities and Events Coordinator, Glenrich International School, Dhaka. She can be reached at [email protected].
