After looking at a photograph of people celebrating Holi in India, a group of ESOL students provided these responses to the question, 'What you see in the picture?'
Hasini wrote: I see lots of colours and colourful faces. I see people who have brown skin. I see people with handfuls of Holi dust. People do this in India.
Avi said: People are throwing dust but the dust is full of paint. The people look happy because they are celebrating good things.
Swali wrote: There is a drum so there's music. There are animals among the people. They are Indian people. Many people are dancing and some people are wearing scarves on their heads to protect their hair from the paint.
Shiako thought that the picture looked like the Santa Parade. He thought that he could see a chicken in the colours. He said that the sand was blowing everywhere and it looked like a dust bomb.
The three Indian students were clearly demonstrating knowledge at a multi-structural level. They knew that the picture depicted a Hindu festival and that it involved paint powder. Shaiko having come from Iran had no knowledge of the festival and was trying to make sense of the picture.
After exploring the Holi festival further and sharing the historical stories that surround its origin, the students added:
Hasini: Holi is when everyone throws special coloured paint at each other. The paint is mixed with flour.
Avi: When the colours are bright and light they represent good and when they are dark they represent bad things. The good has to be stronger than bad. Holi is to celebrate good things happening.
Shiako: Holi is an Indian festival that is celebrated in India by Hindu people.They throw paint dust at each other and have fun.
Swali: Holi is an Indian festival celebrated in March. The Hindu people celebrate it because they want good to conquer evil. The colours are to celebrate the good things in life. It is celebrated following a full moon.
The exercise was to demonstrate the importance of establishing what a student knows as a direction for future learning. The student's prior knowledge provided an opportunity to take their understanding to a relatonal level where they were able to make important connections to why the festival existed and how it impacted on Indian families within our school community.
 |
| Swali with her family
Important links:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/religion/hinduism/holi.shtml
http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/solo.htm
|
