To fulfill
our assignment this week, I took it to Facebook. I asked my friends about their
definitions of culture and diversity. The answers themselves were as diverse as
each person. Ten people gave me
responses. Out of the ten: one has a special needs son; one has a
Hispanic husband that speaks no Spanish; one is from a country other than mine;
another is a psychologist working with high risk teens; one is an owner of a
childhood fitness program that works within childcare to teach children about
nutrition and exercise; three work for the State of MS as trainers within
childcare centers; one is an early childhood professional, and one is a regular
middle-class white female.
#1 Business Owner:
Culture: similarities in
traditions, language, food, beliefs, ethics, and behavior within a group. (i.
e. geographic location or within a group).
Diversity: A population containing people from different cultures
#2 Psychologist:
To me, culture is a way of life or belief system for a particular
society or group of people. Diversity is
encompassing the differences of others within a culture. (E.g., religion,
gender, socioeconomic status, physical or mental abilities or limitations,
race.) Personally, I believe they go hand-in-hand since there are many
diversities within cultures
#3 Lives in Different Country: Culture: are all those things you do within a
particular group you belong to. (beliefs, celebrations, food, music, rituals,
etc.) Diversity: is a mixture of
different kinds of cultures.
#4 Hispanic Husband: I made the assumption when meeting my
husband that he was Hispanic and Spanish was his 1st language...he is 1 of 5
children, grew up in Ohio with wonderful parents who, @ that time thought it
best to only speak English-no Spanish. Subconsciously, I believe his parents
wanted them to grow up breaking culture diversity. With changes today
culturally, Rich wishes he was fluent in Spanish. It has been @ times
embarrassing
#5 Special Needs Son:
I have a child with CMV. There are those who believe that he should have
been institutionalized. He has had many
surgeries, ports, wheel chairs, accommodations made, serious illnesses (where
we almost lost him), and friends with the same disease pass away. They would rather have had him put into a hospital,
one in which I would only have been able to frequent occasionally, than to
raise my own child. Mothers know their
children and are their children’s best teacher.
He is 22 years old now, has graduated from high school and is thriving
in a world he was not supposed to be in.
#6 Friend with Same Culture: Culture seems to be based on nurture. Your
parents’ traditions and basic thought processes, your husbands’ family
traditions and basic thought processes, how and where you live and work, and
what is important to your family and you. Diversity is when you expand from nurture.
More open-minded. Accepting of differences in your core beliefs and expanding
your mindset.
#7 Dr. (Trainer with State of MS): Culture is the norms or expectations of a
society or community. Diversity is the inclusiveness of different cultures,
perspectives, histories, languages, etc.
#8 Trainer with State of MS: Culture is a broad and narrow term. When
thinking about culture, one must look no further than their only family unit.
Culture is broad as it relates to different countries, people groups, and
religions. However, culture is also narrow and can be found within regions or
states of a country and within different sectors of a family group. Culture is
what makes each family unit unique and a part of society. Culture is the
customs, beliefs, and practices of others that one can embrace and learn.
Diversity is so much more than the color of one's skin. Each
person has the capability to step out of his or her own box and experience the
world as others experience it. Diversity requires an open mind to new things, a
broad spectrum of how others live, function, and contribute to society.
Diversity is being accepting of others for who they are, where they are and how
they are without the need to inflict another's opinion on said person.
Diversity requires an open mind and a non-judgmental attitude.
#9 Trainer with State of MS: Culture is
what you are born into, for example, how holidays are celebrated, special
celebrations, & etc. Diversity is how the environment interacts with your
culture.
#10 Childcare Professional: culture is the world around you, community,
society, and family – the way you were raised.
Diversity is the differences within culture. Diversity is usually used as racially-based
term but it is so much more. No two
people are the exact same. Beliefs are
different, life morals may be different, etc.
To me, what this says is that we, as Christians, serve a very creative
and colorful God. He gives people the
choice to choose him no matter what lifestyle you choose, where you live, what
race you are, etc. Culture and diversity
is how you see an individual and accept them for who they are ant not what you
think they should be.
This week
alone we have looked as invisibility, discontinuity, and deep culture. There are examples of each in these
definitions from my friends.
I believe that #5’s experiences show
cultural invisibility. Others were very
uncomfortable with her special needs child.
They tried to get her to give up on him (or not acknowledge him),
instead of supporting her whole
family.
Discontinuity is shown in #4’s
experiences with her husband. His
parents felt it best to discontinue and forget about their own culture when
immigrating to the U.S. to have their children “fit” in.
My friend #6 has no early
childhood education or specialized training.
However, I thought she had the best definition of “deep culture” of
everyone including the educators.
Nurture has not been said but makes sense because we are getting our
culture from those around us who are caring for us – parents, family,
community, schools, etc.
After
reading ALL of these definitions, I fully believe diversity was thoroughly
defined. I liked many of the words used
to describe diversity – accept them for who they are and not who you think they
should be; open and non-judgmental attitude, inclusiveness, how the environment
interacts with culture- they spoke volumes and gave specific attributes for
diversity.
My favorite
definition was from #6: “Diversity is when you expand from nurture. More
open-minded. Accepting of differences in your core beliefs and expanding your
mindset.” We have to be willing to admit that what we believe is not
the only thing out there or not the only "right" thing. If we can add
to, tweak, and expand our differences and what we believe, we will be able to
achieve true cultural responsiveness and responsibility to our families and
children.
