Pondering Questions of Race and Religion

Alfie Kohn, American author and lecturer in the areas of education, parenting and human behavior says: “If children feel safe, they can take risks, ask questions, make mistakes, learn to trust, share their feelings, and grow.”

The popular new book You Can’t Celebrate That (part of the Reimagining Our Work collection), discusses these same ideas as a teacher and her young students risk having honest and open discussions about sensitive topics. The author of the book, Nadia Jabonetta, writes about this on-going process: “As the year progressed, the children continued to ponder questions of race and religion. It was a year-long seminar in anti-bias teaching, led by the four-and five year-old children in my class. In the past I would have sidestepped or squirmed away from these questions. Now, I was ready to wade in…I’ve begun to listen for opportunities to take up the conversation about race and religion with children as a way to plant the seeds for a more just society.” 

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