Saturday, September 21, 2013
Perspectives on Diversity and Culture
After talking to three friends, I received mixed definitions of culture. Two friends believe that culture is based on ethnicity and race. As a result, people's culture is tied to their family and heritage. The third friend believed that people are raised into a culture, and that people who are adopted or raised in different regions will adapt to the culture. Therefore, culture is attained through socialization.
I also asked my friends about diversity. Again, two of them believed that diversity stemmed from cultural and racial differences, and one stated that the United States was the melting pot of diversity. One male friends' explanation of diversity was similar to the definition in the course material. He believed that diversity included the differences between people based on different skills, physical characteristics, and culture.
Reviewing other people's definitions of culture and diversity helped me to understand how culture and diversity plays a role in society and education. Diversity and culture are key elements of the early childhood learning environment. Therefore, educators must develop cultural competency to work with a diverse group of children and families from different cultures. I have also learned that people from the same culture are diverse.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Geneen, I loved that each of friends had such a diverse take on culture! I was so surprised at how different my family and friend's responses were to both questions-it made me realize that even though I have a lot in common with these people they all still have tons to teach/share with me. Thanks for your great post-Carolyn
ReplyDeleteHi Geenen, I agree with you when you say that diversity and culture are key elements of the early childhood learning environment. I feel that children should learn and understand the difference between diversity and culture by being taught by educators, that way when somebody asks them about it, they will be able to give their input about it. Thanks for your blog post. I really enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDeleteHi Geenen,
ReplyDeleteI think your friends definitions are both right. I never would have thought about culture and diversity from the aspect of someone that is not born into a family but adapted. In that situation their culture would reflect the family that they grew up with especially if they have been with them their entire life. My thought is that is it still important for the family to embrace the culture of the birth family, especially if it is different from their own.