Click Here to Subsribe to the 'Ask Jean about China' Feed Dear Jean,
I love this season of the year so much but I feel very homesick these days as I think about all of the Christmas festivities that are taking place in my hometown right now. The only way that I can ‘get past’ this homesickness is to talk about Christmas with other people here and share with them the joy and the love that this day brings to my family. However, I know that Chinese people (and especially the Chinese government) is very sensitive about religious topics so I am wondering if it is too risky to teach about the ‘true meaning’ of Christmas in my classroom? Any advice that you could give me would be wonderful!
Merry Christmas!
Carin in Sichuan
Jean answers Carin’s question
Dear Carin,
First off, Merry Christmas from all of us here at TeachAbroadChina.com. We certainly understand your feelings as many of us will also not be going home for the holidays. We hope that you still find a way to celebrate Christmas here in China – even if you are so far away from home.
Unless your school has specifically told you not to talk about Christmas in your classes, you should have no problem doing so. Not only is Christmas a religious holiday, but it is also apart of Western culture. As a foreign teacher in China, one of your jobs is to introduce your students to Western culture and talking about Christmas – the most important holiday in the West – is certainly an important part of the culture.
As long as you are not ‘preaching’ to your students, you should feel free to share the story of Jesus’ birth with them. One teacher that works with me is even planning on showing scenes from the movie The Nativity Story to her students. In my experience, students are very interested in this story and I have never heard of a teacher getting in trouble for simply telling the story of Christmas.
Just to let you know, Robert Vance is publishing an interesting article this week about Christmas in China. I hope you have a chance to read it.
Sincerely,
Jean
Ask Jean about China is a weekly feature on TeachAbroadChina.com. We welcome any questions related to living and working in China. Feel free to submit your questions by clicking here. We look forward to hearing from you.
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Great answer and very true. I was told just today that my school wants me to tell the “Christmas story” to the kids during their little party. Instead of asking them which particular story they meant, I’m going to tell both (Santa and Jesus’ birth). Like you said, it’s part of our culture – both stories – so kids should get the benefit of knowing both. Heck, that’s one of the main reasons they hired me!
I have run into one odd case, however, when I was teaching an adult class comprised of all government employees. It was around Easter time and I was explicitly told not to mention anything with religious undertones. In this case it’s best to follow their wishes, especially if you want to keep your job, and just keep quiet. Thankfully, this type of thing is very rare.
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Yes, my contract states explicitly that do not speak on religious topics. So it’s the Santa story. That’s ok by me.
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