Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

When I asked friends and family their definitions of culture and diversity, I did not know what to expect. I figured I would get both superficial and in-depth answers and I was correct. It, in fact, ranged from “it’s what you make of it” to more thoughtful considerations.

There were some aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course in the answers given to me. One example is from a friend who is Mexican American. He came to the U.S. when he was 9 years old with his family and became citizens. He now works for the U.S. Forest Service and gave the closest definition of culture and diversity that I have studied during this course. He defined both surface culture and deep culture. He defined part of his surface culture as the things we see, the food, the clothing, the holidays of a particular culture (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). He went on to define part of his deep culture as the values, language, religion, and migration (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). He defines his childhood as spending most of his time with family instead of friends and going to the Catholic Church with his family. He knew his family culture was much different to the dominant culture here in the U.S. He noted all the different types of music that were born and bred here in the U.S. His definition of diversity was also close to what I have studied during this course with a beautiful twist. He stated diversity includes race and ethnicity but also includes, age, gender, social class, varying personalities, gender identity, and religions. He compared diversity to what he sees in nature. In nature, diverse ecosystems are healthier than monocultures so he argues that diversity is a good thing since it maximizes our potential. Beautiful.

There were also some aspects that were clearly omitted in some answers such as “It is what we make it”. Although it is what we make it, it is also what we do not. Some experiences are within our control through our choices. Other experiences we have no control over and can have a profound effect on who we become. For example, we learned from Ngo that certain discourses are so indoctrinated into the dominant culture that it has become normalized (Ngo, 2008). While we cannot control the discourse, we can control the way we react to it.

Thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and diversity has influenced my own thinking of these topics by reinforcing my belief that I cannot become complacent about the effects of culture and diversity has on our children and ultimately society. One of my African American friends from high school told me that he has become somewhat numb to the situation (society) and learned to focus on influencing his children instead of being influenced by society. It also deepened my knowledge that there are several factors people assume of the dominant culture that does not fit in with my culture. The final thing that impacted me was my friend’s definition of culture and likening it to nature. Diversity is, in fact, beautiful and should be embraced and nourished. Gonzalez-Mena said, “Diversity is a benefit and that it is richness” (Laureate Education, 2011).

I will post excerpts of the conversations with my friends on a separate blog since some of them are lengthy. Here is the link to these conversations: https://patriciatowne.blogspot.com/2018/07/culture-and-diversity-defined.html

Trish

References

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).

Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Culture and diversity [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://class.waldenu.edu.

Ngo, B. (2008). Beyond “culture clash”: Understanding of immigrant experiences. Theory into Practice, 47(1), 4-11.