The first person I asked their definition of culture and diversity is a
teacher who works at the same facility as I do.
She is from Thailand and definitely has different cultural beliefs than
myself. She believes culture to be the existing
appearance of a specific society’s established beliefs. Basically peoples way of life and how they do
things. She explains diversity of
knowing every person is distinctive, and identifying our individual dissimilarities.
The second person I asked a definition of culture and diversity is my
Aunt who is also a teacher. She believes
culture is the features of a certain cluster of individuals, clarified through
many things such as: Language, religion, habits, and etc. Her definition of diversity is in a nutshell
the inclusion of cultural and individual differences of others.
The third individual I asked to define culture and diversity was my good
friend and old college professor. He
sees culture as a shared inheritance passed on from one generation to another
and shared, composed of skills, beliefs, knowledge and products that are generally
joint by tons of individuals and transferred to children. His definition of diversity is the differences
in racial and ethnic, socioeconomic, environmental, and educational
backgrounds. Diversity in his mind is
basically the openness to differences among people, cultures and viewpoints.
From talking with my friends and relatives I was able to grasp a
comparison of what I have learned in the course so far on culture and
diversity. The word culture refers to
how particular groups of people live (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). The idea of culture alone is commonly measured
as many noticeable actions like the food people eat, music listened to,
celebrations, holidays, dance, and even dress attire. Each of the individuals I talked with
basically defined culture in this term of thought. Society is a structured group of people. It involves individuals who hold a different
and constant living style. From what I
have learned about diversity it is all about including other cultures and
accepting the difference of other people.
Everyone is different in their own unique way. “We must respect the dignity and preferences
of each family and to make an effort to learn about its structure, culture,
language, customs, and beliefs” (Gonzalez-Mena, 2008, pg. 12).
As far as the three people I talked to definition of culture and
diversity nothing really changed of my thoughts and views because it is how I
see the two as well. Both definitions
are so broad that many different things can be put into them that are correct. Just looking at diversity,
I believe it combines people from many circumstances that hold essential skills
that simulate organizational competitiveness and growth within society.
References
Gonzalez-Mena,
J. (2008). Diversity in Early Care and Education (5th
ed., pp. 8-13). Boston,
MA:
McGraw Hill.
Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards O. J. (2010).
Anti-Bias Education for young children and
Ourselves. Chapter 5, “Learning About Culture, Language,
& Fairness” (p. 55-60).
