Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Their definition of culture- My sister’s definition of culture was that it is something that is within you. It is something no one can take from you. She believes culture consist of the texture of one’s hair and the type of food they eat as well as their clothes. A classmate defines culture as behavior and values that a person has based on where they are from. A friend defines culture as the way a person acts, dress eat, worships based on where they were born.  

Their definition of diversity- My sister definition of diversity is simply put …our family. My classmate could not define diversity because she grew up in a predominately white community and attended a predominately white school and really did not have any exposure to diverse groups of people. My friend knows nothing about diversity outside of their Muslim religion and faith   

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?  I learned about surface culture and deep culture .Surface culture is what we see on the outside or what is on top such as: food, costumes, artifacts and festivals are all the material things people tend to hold close to them. My classmate and friend both talked about their deep culture. This is within each of them. One does not know anything except about how their race is, because that has been all they knew until they became an adult. My friend who is Muslim believes that Muslims should only associate with Muslims and no one outside their religion that is all they were taught as a child.    

Which aspects have been omitted—and what are some examples of such omission? No aspects have been omitted from my sister’s definition .However, as I talked to my classmate and friend; I found that the aspect that was omitted from both of their definitions was diversity. Some examples of such omission are the lack of exposure to various cultures as they explained. They were kept isolated from other cultures and therefore were only aware of their own cultures.

In what ways has thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and diversity influenced my own thinking about these topics? As I talked to my sister, my classmate and my friend about culture and diversity I appreciated their definitions and experiences. It got me thinking about surface culture and deep culture. How my classmate and friend were deprived of diversity within their cultures I wished that they could experience culture and diversity the way I have. That was the reason I chose them, so I could get a sense of what it was like for them living without diversity in their lives. My sister definition was no surprise to me because we come from a very diverse family although my culture was adopted into the family; it is what makes us such a diverse group. I could not ask for a more loving and caring family .Every one of our cultures are accepted and respected.  

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).