I decided to inquire with my neighbor, my co-worker, and a friend what their definition of culture and diversity were. It was interesting to hear their perspectives of both.
When I asked what their definition of culture is they replied:
Culture is a way of life.
Culture is our beliefs, traditions, and overall approach of life.
Culture is the values we are taught about life.
When I asked them to share their definition of diversity I receive the following responses:
Diversity is having an experience with anything or anyone other than your norm.
Diversity is having exposure to other cultures and not limiting yourself in a box.
Diversity is being open to others way of life.
The answers I received were reflected in the responses shared with me from everyone I asked. "Every day, in our every action, we express our particular group culture and our individuals relationship to our culture" (Derman-Sparks, 2010). I was in agreement with their responses as culture entails all the elements that play a role in the way we live our lives.
Everyone provided a general response to both definition however, to be more specific what was missing from their statements were " Culture 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" (Derman-Sparks, 2010). The picture above is an example of culture, it is a picture of my eldest daughter graduating from college with her sisters by her side. Having a higher education is valuable as well as having the support of family in your life accomplishments aids in reaching those challenging life goals in addition to that, family support is simply priceless.
The definitions I was given on diversity and culture allowed me to reflect back on all the factors that have shaped me into the person I am. It has also given me time to see how fortunate I have been and appreciate all the aspects of my culture. Being a part of a diverse family, my community of co-workers as well as friends has afford me with valued life long experience and relationships.
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).
3 comments:
Thank you for sharing. I too have four daughters, support, and education that are important for them to do as well. My oldest is 8 ½ years old and the youngest is 18months. I look forward to future celebrations and accomplishments in the future.
Hi Violanda,
Thank you for your post. Your family is beautiful. I also noticed that when you ask a person what is culture a general response is given. I wonder what needs to be done for everyone to see there's more than just what is on the surface. I wonder how would that effect the workforce and politics.
Violanda
I love your post and all of your definitions of culture and diversity. We have 8 weeks in this course, and this is week number 3 so I feel like in 5 weeks you will have a much stronger definition. Remember when you think of the culture and diversity, remember the keyword is Different.
NeKIa
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