Navigating Complexity: Thoughts on Addressing Palestine in the K/1 Classroom
I met with Charlie a few weeks ago to let her know that children were talking about Palestine in the Lumber Primes, and that Amy and I were beginning to think and plan about how we might address this very fraught topic with the kindergarten and first graders in our class. Many children in our class have not been exposed to what is happening in Gaza right now, but some children have. In these children we are seeing some limited understanding, some clear misconceptions, and a beautiful, admirable, passion for justice.
We knew that a possible visit from local Palestinian-American author Hannah Moushabeck was on the horizon and there was a sense of urgency around figuring out how to scaffold this visit for the Lumber Primes and how to prepare for their inevitable follow-up questions. Our initial plan was to use the spring parent-teacher conferences as an opportunity to find out if and how parents were approaching this subject with their own children.
Charlie encouraged us to think about what comparisons might be made between this topic, and how and why we have addressed other challenging topics with our young students. This suggestion, in particular, has been on my mind in recent weeks.
Why did we choose to speak with our students about the Russia-Ukraine war, and how did we frame it? Why have we not chosen to talk to our students about the war in Sudan? Why have we not chosen to address the MMIW (missing and murdered Indigenous women) human rights crisis that is ongoing here in the United States when we have conversations with the children about the history of how Indigenous people have been treated in our country, and teach about contemporary movements for Indigenous rights? Why have we, in the past, not centered the role of religion when we talk about the unfair treatment of queer, trans, and non-binary people, or when we discuss the history of marriage rights?
These are just a few of the questions that Amy and I have been mulling over as we also engage parents and colleagues in conversation, and work to better educate ourselves about the complex history of Israel-Palestine. Inspired by recent conversations with our class about the Black environmentalist John Francis and the power of listening as a tool for social justice, we have also been trying to center listening as an essential part of our learning process.
Driving home last Friday, I began thinking about a conversation that Amy and I had with the parents of one of our students back during fall conferences. At a recent All School, a video was shown of Jazz Jennings reading her book I Am Jazz. In this story, Jazz recounts that, growing up, she "hardly ever played with trucks or tools or superheroes. Only princesses and mermaid costumes." These parents wondered about the perpetuation of gender stereotypes, and worried that the take-away for their five year old would be: If you are a boy, you can't like dresses or playing mermaids. Boys have to be tough and strong. If you don't like to work with tools or play superheroes, then you can't be a boy-- you must be a girl.
Amy and I assured these parents that the book was only one of many stories their child would hear this year, and only one of many perspectives about gender identity and expression that they would be exposed to. This explanation made perfect sense to the parents, and alleviated their fears.
How does that relate to this moment, when some parents are worrying that teaching about Palestine might unintentionally cause bias against the Jewish children in our school, or wondering how it will impact children for whom Israel is linked to their Jewish identity?
I am thinking about how, despite our best efforts, the conclusions that children reach do not always match what we want or intend for them to learn about certain topics. I'm thinking about a time, during the Lumber Primes' afternoon tea, that children were discussing the song Who Were the Witches? Some children were talking about how unfair it was to think someone was bad just because they had special knowledge or could help other people with certain things. Other children shared about family members who identify as Wiccan or Pagan. One child spoke about a recent trip to Salem and learning about how a fungus caused people to hate witches (I personally was unfamiliar with the ergot fungus and had to look it up myself. The theory that ergot poisoning caused the Salem Witch Trials has been debunked, by the way). As children were packing up to leave for the end of the day, one student loudly declared, "My grandma told me that people used to burn witches into steaks!" I remember distinctly the look of horror that Amy and I shared in that moment. Luckily, the end of day transition was chaotic enough that this loud comment did not seem to have registered with the rest of the students, and we were spared from trying to figure out how, in the last 3 minutes before pick up time, to respond and address this inaccurate statement.
While personally, I would love a chance to hear Hannah Moushabeck speak, I was relieved when I learned that the plan for her to read her book at the All School gathering this week was canceled. I do not personally feel prepared, in this current moment, to address the inevitable questions that would arise from the very smart and very justice-oriented five, six, and seven year olds in the Lumber Primes. In addition, to approach this subject when tensions are so high in the adult portion of our school community makes me feel incredibly vulnerable.
Parents put so much trust in us teachers. We are eternally grateful for that trust, and work incredibly hard to be worthy of that trust as we engage with their children around a wide variety of complex topics. Right now, I could honestly assure parents that our intention would be to teach about what is happening in Palestine in a way that won't cause harm. I could not honestly say that I feel that I have the tools and resources and clarity to ensure that the outcome would match our intention.
When Amy and I teach about gender identity and expression in our class, we have dozens of high-quality children's books to choose from that offer representations of queer families, transgender children, and examples of children of various genders enjoying non-stereotypical activities. We have a couple books with non-binary characters (and we are searching for more). We have books about people in history like Raye Montague who defied gender expectations in their careers, and about people like Mary Walker, who fought against gendered expectations of clothing. We have access to great resources, like the First Conversations books, created specifically with very young children in mind. We can draw upon what we have learned over years of previous conversations. We know to drive home the point that not only can you not tell a person's gender by how they look or what they like to do, even a person's pronouns cannot tell you exactly how they identify.
Right now, thinking about Palestine, our resources are limited. We don't have a plethora of children's literature to draw upon and ensure that we are offering enough complexity. As the months go on, more guides and examples of what other educators are doing are becoming available, but few of those resources directly address engaging very young children.
We are still thinking about what kind of scaffolding needs to be in place. What conversations (and how many) do we need to have so that our very young students have a solid understanding of how governments make decisions whether or not people agree with them? What examples can we find to offer a contrast between how governments or other groups with external power are using their power to hurt and scare vs. how individuals or other groups are using their power to help, or forge peace? Is is appropriate or not to bring religion into the picture, and in what ways? How can we frame this issue by drawing upon previous conversations our class has had about rights, safety, consent, power, community, unconscious bias, and resistance? I cried this past All School during the video about Ultimate Peace (an organization "building bridges of friendship, trust, and leadership between Israeli Arab, Israeli Jewish and Palestinian youth through Ultimate Frisbee"), and I wonder what other inspiring stories we could highlight.
This is not about whether or not adults agree that genocide is wrong. This is is about figuring out how to present information to children in a way that is ethical, honest, and grounded in an understanding of early childhood development. We can absolutely say that killing and starving people is unacceptable, but the conversation will not stop there. Our students will want to know why and how and who's responsible. Some will worry about their own safety; many will be angry and want to know why this is being allowed to happen. Students whose parents told them about voting "no preference" as a protest in the recent primaries will want to know about our own government's involvement. Children who have attended protests and demonstrations will have questions and misconceptions based on chants they have heard, or the graphic images or signs they have seen.
I am not saying that we can't teach about this ever in Lumber Primes, or even that it's not possible this school year. But I am saying that we owe it to the children, and our community, to do it well. There is a lot more work we need to do to prepare. Right now, Amy and I are still learning and thinking and researching and planning and listening.