I asked 3 different
friends from different cultures about their thoughts and views on culture and
diversity.
One friend stated, “Social
customs and beliefs of a group of people. Diversity is different was a group
adapts to culture” (Hardy, Personal Interview).
Another friend said, “Culture
is what makes you, you. Example, your beliefs, Jewish, Christian, Muslim.
Diversity different like biracial not races open to all sexes, no
discrimination” (Ansara-Burns, Personal Interview).
Another friend shared, “Culture
is your upbringing, traditions, and values. Diversity is individuality, to be
different and unique” (Bauchman, Personal Interview).
Reviewing my thoughts on
culture and diversity. To me, culture is the values, beliefs, and traditions
within my own family. My race, ethnicity, religious views, and customs. Diversity
to me is all of the aspects of my culture, including the social identities that
make up who I am as a person. The community I am a part of and belong to, how I
respond in a situation, and interact with other people.
The aspects of culture
and diversity that I have learned in this courses is culture and diversity mean
so much more than I ever thought it would mean. Culture and diversity is the
most majority reasoning behind every person’s responses, actions, and
interactions. It’s the way people live their lives and all the hopes and dreams
they want for their child and family. Even early childhood professionals want
the same thing and to support families and young children to feel comfortable
in the world around them. Reviewing the answers I have collected about culture,
they each shared how it was connected to our customs, beliefs, values, and
traditions. These terms are divided between the surface culture and deep
culture of how people define culture (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p.
56). We are all different and everyone will define culture and diversity in
their own way, but everyone is able to share the same views and thoughts about
what culture and diversity mean to each and every one person. Their thoughts on
diversity is about each person’s individuality, being unique from others, being
different, the ability to adapt. Diversity is about belonging and feeling
comfortable in our own shoes for being different. To help support others to
understand and accept the differences between my culture and diversity with
others (Laureate Education, 2011).
The aspects that were
omitted from culture are holidays, artifacts, language, gender roles, showing
of emotion, and the importance of culture (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010,
p. 56). I find this items as important as the aspects that were received. I do
not think the importance of gender roles and the show of emotion is not
important as the other aspects. I find it more as the topics of not wanting to
offend anyone on their views and thoughts about gender roles and the values of
showing emotions or the lack of showing emotions. The same thought process
happens with diversity of not wanting to offend anyone on the way they are and
the importance of their own culture and diversity means to them for years to
come (Laureate Education, 2011).
Taking the time to listen
to my friends’ thoughts and definition on culture and diversity has helped
influence my thoughts about culture and diversity as a whole. I have to say, I
never really took the time to see how much culture and diversity play a key
role into teaching young children and their families in the early childhood
field. Culture and diversity play a key
role on how we treat others, how we interact with others, and how we reaction
to different situations we experience on a daily basis (Laureate Education, 2011). It makes me want to
learn more about culture and diversity from others perspectives because it
makes us unique and different from each other, but we are very similar the more
we realize. Every culture and diversity stands out and unique in their own way,
but they are similar in the hopes and dreams everyone is striving to achieve.
References:
Derman-Sparks, L. &
Edwards, J. O. (2010). Learning about culture, language, and fairness.
Anti-bias education for young
children and ourselves (pp. 55-60). National Association for
the Education of Young Children: Washington, DC.
Laureate Education
(Producer). (2011). Family cultures: Dynamic interactions [video file].
That is awesome that you were able to ask three friends from three different cultures about culture and diversity. They answers are all so different. You can tell what is important in their culture.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I enjoyed reading the definitions and your responses to them. I have learned in the last couple of weeks that we are all so different, and we all have a unique cultural identity. It is important to value those differences and learn about each other especially when we are trying to teach young children. -Mary
ReplyDeleteErin,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, great post. It was awesome that you were able to ask three different people from three different cultures so you were able to get a variety of answers.
I had not considered emotions. I really had not seen that as a part of culture. However, now that I think back on the readings and our studies and even think about the differences between races and genders, I can see this as being a major source of culture... Great post, commentary, and exploration!
ReplyDelete