Peterson

Peterson Chapter 2 Literature Review

Peterson expands on his beliefs of a holistic school setting by expressing the importance of celebration, play, and jobs. He directs these things once again in the direction of how it establishes socialization and group activity.

As a society we love to celebrate anything. Whether it is a birthday, anniversary, wedding, holiday, or any little thing that happens; a celebration brings about happiness for most and togetherness. Peterson believes that schools should use the value of celebrations to their advantage. There are many things that can be gained by adding some form of celebration to a given school day. A celebration brings about a sense of belonging and socialization. He breaks down celebration into four types: special day, spur of the moment, achievement, and getting older. A special day celebration would be characterized by merrymaking and carefree enjoyment. Everything that is being learned or talked about that day is pushed aside to celebrate the specific event. These celebrations call for prior planning and preparation. This is a time to eat, dance, sing, be festive, and to have an overall enjoyable time. Days where celebrations of this sort are too being done are Valentines Day, Halloween, Chirstmas/Hanakah, etc.

Spur of the moment celebrations take no prior planning at all. They usually are very small things to celebrate, but it brings about a sense of enjoyment in the classroom. For example the first day of the year that it snows, can be created into a celebration, or when there is a huge storm outside.

Achievement celebrations are very important to have. They usually occur when a student does well and achieves a certain academic status. When there is a celebration for a student it shows that there was a growth in their competence. These celebrations recognize the success and growth that a student is showing. It also encourages the other students to want to achieve, because they want to have a celebration as well. An example would be a student who has been having excessive trouble with multiplication. After intense preparation and studying, the student does very well on the exam. This calls for a celebration. The student will be celebrated for his/her achievement. This reinforces the child to continue to work hard and study.

Finally, there are getting older celebrations. These celebrations acknowledge some form of growth in an individual. It can be a birthday, getting one’s driver’s license, or getting taller; they all can be celebrated and looked at as an achievement.

When using a holistic teaching method, play and fun time is used in the everyday lesson plans. Play brings about socialization, imagination, cognitive thinking, etc. It allows students to feel that they belong to the group. Peterson suggests that play allows teachers to make learning fun. Taking subjects such and math and history, and making fun and exciting activities to go along