WEEK 3 BLOG: PERSPECTIVES ON DIVERSITY AND CULTURE

WK 3 BLOG

I asked three different individuals, who range from age 18 to 36, what were their definitions of culture and diversity is from their own standpoints. One individual stated, “Diversity is many people combined into one tradition for many people. Culture is a lot of different people and ideas in one place”. The second individual stated, “Diversity is the different characteristics within a group of people, such as race, gender, financial background, educational level, etc. Culture can be one’s own values and morals, as well as, a person surrounding beliefs, where the different races, economic level and environment can influence their culture”. The last individual stated, “Diversity is a different group or kind of people and environment, as well as, can be a mixture of people in one area. Culture is a way of living or lifestyle or what one is used to living”.

From receiving their answers, they all seem to revolve around the same answers for the most part. Diversity was many people dwelling in one group and what each one would bring within the group, which made things diverse. It could range from their race, gender, educational levels, economic statuses, etc. the cultural aspect was the way each person may decide to live depending on what they had been exposed to along the way, which influenced the way they may what to live or how they decided to belief was the way they believed as a person. Each person I asked seem to focus on the deep culture aspect to represent their definitions, such as “a person’s community connection, gender roles and values” (Derman-Sparks, 2010, p. 56).

Neither person named anything that most people would name, which mostly represented the tip of the iceberg or the surface culture. Some examples would be “artifacts, costumes, foods or the holidays” (Derman-Sparks, 2010, p. 56). This shocked me because this is the first things that most people think about when asked those two questions. They all were on the right track, in my opinion, although their definitions were short and to the point. I would have definitely liked for them to expand on their definitions but I did not want to persuade them in any way. I just wanted their first reactions to the given questions.

The definitions given by each person made me realize that as we grow, we use want we are exposed to each day to eventually gravitate to the true person we will become in adulthood. Although we are influenced greatly by our family cultures, which is the first culture we are exposed to from birth. We will continue on to school age, which is where we exposed even more to how the dominant culture states is the correct way to be in society and definitely tells us what will be accepted by most individuals. This will have an individual questioning most of what we were taught, especially if different than the teacher or the dominant culture. We have to adjust to maintain functionality within each situation. In my opinion, as we grow older, each experience will help us become the best we can be to succeed in the life we are dealt.

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). Retrieved September 18, 2014.