Huge Problems in Second Grade
Navigating Cultural Sensitivity in Multinational Classes transcript
It was early November. Everyone in the low countries was gearing up for the arrival of Sinterklaas. By boat. From Spain. With his white horse and his costumed Zwarte Piet helpers.
St. Nicolaas is over 300 years old, so he does have white hair, a white mustache and a long white beard. He also wears a red bishop’s cape and a pointy bishop’s hat. He carries a crozier – a bishop’s staff with a hook on top. – Sint carries a big red book with names of children who have been good or naughty.
When Sinterklaas visits your school, children sing, say poems, and enjoy the tiny round kruidnootjes which are a cross between a pebble and a gingerbread cookie.
On the evening of Dec 5th children leave their shoes by the door with a carrot for Sint’s horse. Then, they wake up in the morning to find the carrot gone and some gifts left in its place.
Sint rides around from mid-November to December 6th at which point, he quietly goes home. To Spain. By boat. With his white horse and his costumed Zwarte Piet helpers.
Whenever you have students from around the world – you can expect cultural issues to appear.
One minute I was teaching multiplication to second graders at the International School of Amsterdam and the next thing I knew American, British, and Australian parents were at my door. With a HUGE second grade problem.
I was worried. What were these parents going to complain about? Had I done something wrong? Again? If so, what? How bad could it be?
It turned out to be much worse than I had imagined:
Someone
was telling my students
that there was no Santa Claus.
I sprang into action and quickly identified the young culprit. He had recently returned to the Netherlands after having lived on his family’s yacht in the Caribbean for some time. He was fluent in Dutch and English, basically a sweet little kid; with one exception.
He didn’t believe in Santa Claus and he had the weight of his entire culture behind him.
Fortunately, that same year, Amsterdam was covered with advertisements for a special brand of butter. The poster showed Sinterklaas and Santa Claus enjoying a breakfast together. Best of friends.
One class discussion later, and we were back to multiplication.
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