‘It’s a huge gain when you find out more about someone else’

Marette 2

Marette Ebert is a Business Innovation lecturer and researcher for the Diversity Issues research focus area at Inholland, where she teaches many international students. Last year she began an inclusive festive holiday calendar which she uses in class. Marette explains: ‘December is the main festive month here in the Netherlands, but I also wanted to know what other festive holidays there are in the countries where my students come from. There’s so much more than just Christmas.’

Marette asked her students to tell her which days they celebrate. She then compiled all these festive holidays in a calendar, including a reference to the student who cited the day if you want to find out more. ‘This led to nice discussions within our international community. The students provide more information about their festive holidays on Yammer. What do you eat on this special day? Who do you visit, what do you wear? And that in turn generates further exchange,’ says Marette.

The idea behind the calendar is that together you can learn more about each other’s culture and that students feel acknowledged and able to be themselves. This leads to nice things in the class, for example during lessons about cultural awareness. Marette continues: ‘I had a Tunisian student who thought she wouldn't like her Israeli classmate because of cultural differences. When she discovered in class that she actually found cultural exchange very interesting, she became more open to it and looked beyond the initial prejudices. And now they are even best friends!’



Diversity and inclusion don't have to be difficult
According to Marette everyone is shaped by culture. ‘It’s not a backpack that you take off before entering the classroom, you always carry it with you. And by entering into open discussion in class, you show that differences can actually be interesting. That you can learn from these and that it can be inspiring.’ Marette can see how the festive holiday calendar contributes to many positive factors. It’s a way of connecting with each other. And if you feel connected, you feel at home. And feeling at home somewhere also means you can be yourself, are willing to ask questions and ultimately to study better. Moreover, she wants to show that the issue of cultural diversity doesn’t have to be difficult. ‘People often regard this as a sensitive issue, something that quickly becomes complicated, although it’s actually very simple. Everyone likes to tell others about something that’s important to them, and what’s more, everyone likes to learn something new. It’s actually a huge gain when you find out more about someone else,’ Marette believes.

Celebrate together
Marette learned about celebrating each other’s important festive holidays when she lived in Suriname. ‘Surinamese celebrate all the festive days together and everyone is off work on days like Eid al-Fitr or Holi, even if they aren’t Muslim or Hindu. And organisations congratulate the entire Surinamese community with festive days such as Diwali (the Hindu festival of lights).’ Now that December has come round again, we are introducing Marette’s inclusive festive holiday calendar for use throughout Inholland, our own ‘mini-society’. From now on you’ll find at least one festive holiday each month in the event tool on Iris, with Inholland students explaining how they celebrate this day. Marette suggests: ‘Use the calendar as a discussion starter, no matter whether you’re a lecturer, student or staff member. Learn how to wish someone a good Diwali, for instance, or take it as an invitation to say something about the days important to you. Or even better: get together and organise something to celebrate the day.’