Perspectives
on Diversity and Culture
I wanted to share the following responses received
in connection to the assignment this week.
Each one was asked to give their definition of culture and
diversity.
#1
- (Teaching Colleague from Korea)
Culture
is all the behavior the members of a society acquire and do in the context of
the social system which includes beliefs, morals, art, knowledge, etc. It also
includes the products of their behavior such as performances, architecture,
prints, etc.
In my opinion, diversity
means multi-culture. It is the state of
co-existence of people from various cultures. When all the groups accept each
other’s culture and share the power harmoniously, diversity can be a powerful
tool for building and preserving a strong society and country. Based on the observation as a foreigner,
diversity is one of the most important factors that contributed to today’s
success of America – one of the greatest and strongest countries in the world.
#2
- (Hispanic Teaching Colleague)
My definition of culture is the way we see, believe, and
evaluate the world. It’s how we behave. Culture is learned, it is that
which we perceive as normal and it is taught through our own culture.
Diversity is an understanding that each individual is unique, and
recognizing our individual differences. These can be along the dimensions
or elements of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation,
social-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, or other
ideologies. It is about understanding each other and moving beyond tolerance to
embrace and celebrate the rich dimensions of diversity contained within each
individual.
#3 (Immediate Family Member)
Culture has more than one
definition - The ethos of a people brought together by common traits or
aspirations - agrarian, trading, learning, religion - those qualities that form
divergent peoples into an ethnic group or culture – OR class, couth, culture -
that quality of acquiring taste and aspiring to a higher appreciation of the
human condition through art, literature, music, etc.
Diversity -
Differences, especially within a group with divergent hopes, desires,
beliefs, merged into a group larger than itself - the differences within
the whole as brought into it by the component parts.
It was very interesting
reviewing the above definitions. They
were similar definitions from three very different individuals. Each
referred to being tolerant and celebrating differences. Several mentioned the appreciation of art,
literature, and architecture in their reflections.
With each new
assignment, my own definition of culture and diversity is expanding. I never realized how many components were a
part of these terms. Before this course,
my thoughts were very simple in comparison to what I am learning. I think the following definition states some
of the aspects my thoughts and the above remarks are missing.
The word culture refers to how particular groups
of people live. It is the way we eat,
sleep, talk, play, care for the sick, relate to one another, think about work,
arrange our kitchens, and remember our dead.
It includes the language we speak, the religion or spirituality we
practice (or do not), and the clothing, housing, food, and rituals/holidays with
which we feel most comfortable (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).
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).
