The holiday season is approaching, and much of my teaching has been in preperation for the upcoming concert. I did not get to select repertoire for the concert, but have enjoyed teaching the songs chosen.
The grade fours are singing "The Huron Carol", a popular Christmas song which tells the story of Jesus' birth using imagery associated with the Algonquin people of Southern Ontario. The song was written by Jean de Brebeuf, a Jesuit missionary back in the 1600s. He wrote it in the Algonquin language as a way of telling his story.
I told my grade fours this information, asking them to draw the parallels between lyrics in the song, and the traditional Christmas story. This they understood. I also tried asking them what the job of a missionary was. This they understood. From there I wanted to stress the point that music can sometimes have a purpose- it's not always pretty melodies with rhythm. I don't know if they quite understand.
I have the grade fours again tomorrow. For the past two lessons we've talked about the meaning of the song and I feel like its a good lesson in equity. Even though this period of history isn't covered until grade six, and the issues I'd like to get at are at a high school level, some of the class is mature enough to deal with it.
The challenge to me is to avoid telling the kids that there Brebeuf's goal is not in line with how we treat other cultures. They need to arrive at this point themselves, and I think that takes time.
Isn't it funny how you think you've reached them on all levels and it ends up that there's another piece that was totally lost on them?
ReplyDeleteSometimes I'm because I think that I've made things so abundantly clear or easy for them to arrive at some kind of critical stance on their own and it totally flops.
Sounds like a good portion of them will be able to draw some equity pieces from your lesson regardless my dear!