Teaching Notes
Schools and communities celebrate many
“good things”. Often a prayer is read during a celebration but it is not really
reflective of the true spirit of the occasion. In 2001, as well, our communities are
multi-cultural and multi-faith and the prayer perhaps representative of one faith maybe
non-inclusive and even disrespectful of many in attendance.
If children are taught the significance of
honouring and respecting the needs of others, are made aware of the importance of
considering and using inclusive practices, then they can also create prayers for certain
celebrations that honour these understandings.
A book of prayers could be created by a
classroom or school and even be presented as a webbook on the school website. These
prayers could reflect the good practices undertaken by the school community to honour and
show respect for the different cultures within it. Each week/month prayers created by
children could be presented at assemblies or on webpages for specific celebrations (ie
Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan)…..but be ones that do honour and respect inclusivity.
These prayers will not only provide good examples but could be used by others as well.
They could also be prayers of hope and peace for communities throughout the
world…..be prayers to help those in crisis, in war zones, affected by tragedy or
disasters…or be prayers for peace.
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