Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Their definition of culture

After asking a few of my family members what culture meant to them, one of them defined culture as being something that we as people all have to develop to. The other two defined culture as something that we are just naturally born in and have the ability to adapt to no matter what race ethnicity one may be. One person that I would say who I believe is culturally different from me is my two nephews. They are somewhat culturally different from me because they speak totally different from everyone in the family, even their own parents. They are very proper and I just do not understand where they get it from.

Their definition of diversity

      When a few of my family members were asked to define what diversity meant to them, each of them gave me a totally different answer. One of them said that diversity meant that each and every person even in the family is all different from one another because of the way they act. For example, they said that my nephews seem to be very diverse from everyone in the family because they are the only two proper speaking ones in the family. Then another one of my family members defined that diversity means being able to express yourself in a way that makes you feel comfortable. My last family member said that being diverse means displaying several different social identities or as many as one can have.

Which aspects of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course are included in the answers I received—and what are some examples?

            An aspect of culture and diversity that I have studied in this course are included in the answers that I received for culture was the fact that there are different ways to define it. Culture does not have to be perceived as a person that is of a particular race has to belong to a certain culture because of that. For example, in a sense refers to how particular groups of people live and every day, in every action, we express our particular group culture and our individual relationship to our culture (Derman-Sparks and Edwards, 2010, p. 55). As for diversity, the aspect that has been included in the answers that I have received was the fact that being diverse has many social identities that come along with a person. It is the total opposite of culture. For example, our social identities are what make each and every one of unique and diverse, which was something that I learned by reading the course materials and getting a better understanding of it.  

Which aspects have been omitted—and what are some examples of such omission?

            The aspects that have been omitted were the fact that they say that no one mentioned that culture can be broken down into several different subcultures. For example, there is dominant culture, which means that it’s a culture of the people who hold the social, political, and economic power in society and necessarily or always meaning the culture of majority (Derman-Sparks and Edwards, 2010, p. 57).

In what ways has thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and diversity influenced my own thinking about these topics?

            Some of the ways that other people’s definitions of culture and diversity influenced my own thinking about these topics is that they make me see how everyone does not view culture and diversity the same way. Also it gives me a deeper understanding as to how I can relate to different ideas of what it means to belong to a culture and how I can be very diverse in my own culture and still feel comfortable knowing that my social identities are what make me part of a culture and being diverse.

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).