Perspectives on Diversity and Cultutre

I had the privilege to ask 3 of my co-workers what was their definition of culture and diversity. These were their brief responses!

Maria (Hispanic)

Maria responded by saying that the definition of culture is the characteristics of where people come from. She said that diversity is the differences between different people.

Samantha (African American)

Samantha responded by saying that culture is the roots of where people come from. It is the history of an individual’s life. She then stated that diversity is entire world. Diversity is the difference between my culture and the next person’s culture which makes us all distinctive from one another.

P.K. (Pakistan)

P.K. responded to the definition of culture by saying that culture is where people are developed from. She said that culture is the foundation of all individual people. She responded to diversity by saying that diversity is the difference between cultures.

1. After listening to each ladies response, I thought about how during this course I have learned that culture is more than just were a person may come from people. There is a deeper sense of culture. It’s the uniqueness or individuality of one’s culture as a people. For example, one culture may have certain values and beliefs that they honor dearly. They may attend a worship service faithfully twice a week. For other cultures those same values and beliefs may not be as important. They may not believe in worship at all. A person’s cultural group is related strongly to his or her identity, which reflects the place of origin and cultural background of the person’s ancestors-whether parents, grandparents, or relatives who lived hundreds of years ago (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).

2.  Maria responded that culture is a characteristic of where people come from. I would have to say that this can be misleading. With this response, an African American person may identify themselves with the negative characteristics of some African American people. Culture is more than just where a person comes from. Culture is the identity of people, their language, their values and beliefs, religion, relationships, and so much more. Artifacts, customs, foods, and celebration of holiday would all be the surface of culture.

3. After listening and responding to my co-workers thoughts and definition of culture and diversity, I have learned that not all people have the same mind set regarding the two. I have taken the challenge to be sure that I understand clearly what culture and diversity is so that I might be able to understand and help the children and families that I serve. If my co-workers don’t have a clear idea of what culture and diversity is, how will they ever truly understand the children that they teach and families that they serve? As educators we all must be prepared and understand that our world is a very diverse world with many different cultures of people with many different beliefs. We must equip ourselves in knowledge so that we will be effective.

Reference

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).