Halloween

Another holiday topic. A little early, because of scheduling conflicts next week. 10th graders this time.

Once again, mom tried to avoid lecturing. She asked the class to share what they already know about Halloween, planning to build on these preconceptions. The results were very interesting.

Surprisingly, many students knew that Halloween has Irish/Celtic origins. Some were convinced that it's "a primarily American tradition". When mom started probing about what constitutes an American tradition, the answers were predictable, yet fascinating. Students were eager to move the discussion from Halloween to "what makes something American". Most of them were flabbergasted when mom tried to explain that it is very hard to talk about "American" characteristics because the U.S. is such a big and diverse country. Some of them could not even accepted - they kept trying to draw comparisons between Bulgarians and Americans, and were taken aback, some were even annoyed, at mom's refusal to make generalizations.

All in all, mom was pleased with the result. Students participated in the conversation, some even asked for more information during the break, and above all, mom felt she fulfilled the duty spreading the word about the unbearable lightness of generalizations.

Boo...