Develop Your Staff
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Professional development activities that have proven effective will be included in Develop Your Staff. Your contributions are welcome. Send them to principal@osu.edu. Please indicate if we may use your name in the “contributor” credits.
Ramadan
In this era of difficult political times, the school can serve as a beacon of understanding and information. Many of us are not aware of the practices of the cultural and religious populations in our schools. I remember the time when one of my Muslim students was sitting in the office at lunchtime. When I inquired, “Why are you sitting here?” he said, “I can’t eat. It’s Ramadan.” He explained that it was a religious fast. Rather than have him and his sister sit in the office during this time, we made provisions for them to go to the library for quiet activity rather than appear to be in trouble in the office. We subsequently researched Ramadan and passed out information to the staff so that everyone would understand why he and his sister were not eating lunch for the period.
Whether you are confronted with parents who do not want their children participating in certain holidays such a Halloween, or you are requested to serve fish on Friday during the Lenten season, or there are other cultural/religious dietary issues that you don’t understand, when faced with unknown situations, take the opportunity to be a continuous learner yourself and engage your staff in the learning. The learning can take the form of book studies, Internet searches and sharing of information, inviting speakers in to speak with staff members, and then passing the understanding and learning on to students to promote peace, understanding, and inclusion.
