I am responsible for leading weekly assemblies at my elementary school that are designed around teaching students and staff about cultural diversity. In the wake of the killing of Osama bin Laden, I worried anew about whether young children were associating Muslim garb with terrorists. I wanted to somehow touch upon this subject matter in my assembly, but had a difficult time figuring out how to do it in a sensitive, age-appropriate fashion. Finally, I came up with the idea of designing a presentation around hats and headgear.
My first slide showed traditional American headgear like baseball caps, straw hats, cowboy hats, and the like. I then followed with a slide of Americans wearing less familiar headgear like a Jewish kippah, an African-American headwrap, a Sikh turban, and a Muslim hijab. My approach succeeded beyond my expectations. One girl excitedly shared that she sees many people with hijabs when she goes to Costco. Another student mentioned that she remembered seeing many people with hijabs when she and her family lived in Kosovo. Yet another mentioned that his neighbors wore turbans. I felt a tremendous satisfaction in knowing that I was able to provide these children an important context for the observations they make in their daily lives.
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