Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Sometimes interviews are essentials to see others perspective of societal issues or concern. I had to ask three friends what they understood by culture and   diversity.

My first friend explained that culture to her meant recognizing that all children are unique, they have different talents and abilities and styles of learning; and respecting these differences to understand the cultural backgrounds of children means acknowledging the existence of diversity.

The second friend defined culture “as the way of life of different ethnic groups with a focus on the social values, family values, beliefs, religion, rituals, and behavioral characteristics. Diversity and culture were kind of synonymous”.

And the third friend summed up to say “Culture is simply the understanding of the different food, songs, and lifestyle of other people who are different from your own culture. And diversity is when you have people from different countries or parts of the world who have different beliefs, and speak different languages”

 From the answers shared by my friends, it was evident that they were all aware of what culture is and what constitutes culture in a way. My friends were right to point out that culture   recognizes the uniqueness in each one of us.  This can be seen in children as they construct different identities based on the environment and family backgrounds (Smidt, 2006; Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).    In addition, they were cognizant and aware of the social values and family values that were components of a culture which to me are essential characteristics of culture. What people need is to develop an atmosphere where these cultural differences can be appreciated, understood, and respected in its own right. Awareness will also reduce the tendency to stereotype others that may make them appear less than fully human and leads to misinformation (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).

 What   I did not get from my friends’ definitions were the expansion of the need for each person to understand self first and their own culture in order to be able to appreciate someone’s culture and reframe from prejudices. Unfortunately, most people are unaware of their own culture until they experience another and  that is when cultural clash begins; as Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010 ) indicate, people focus on the  “surface culture” (p.56) and forget that culture is much more deeper and more significant than  what they see and define.

            The more I think about culture and diversity, the more I become tolerant of the differences I encounter each day.  I become less judgmental about others behavior or  way of life whether they wear   sagging pants , covering themselves with tattoos, eating snakes, or dogs, or carrying their babies on their heads feels just  right with me.   Indeed, I have gotten pass my cultural shocks and become more adaptable to working with anyone regardless of their cultural background. What is foremost is the relationship and interactions that are harmonious and values each one’s identity.

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).

Smidt, S. (2006). The developing child in the 21st century: A global perspective on child development.

         New York, NY: Routledge