After talking to three people about culture and diversity, I have realized that people see both diversity and culture differently. One of my friends that is a teacher in another school district in Arizona was one of my interviewees. After asking him what his definition of diversity is, he stated: "Culture is a particular behavior or practices that are developed and shared among people. His definition of diversity is: "a variety and wide range of whatever is being mentioned." This friend that I asked is another gender.
The second person that I asked was my friend that also teaches in another school district in Arizona. She is from my home state. When I asked her what her definition of diversity is, she stated: "the difference in things, more popularly in nationality. If something is diverse, it is different than other things." When I asked her what culture meant to her, she stated: "Culture is a way of life that is influenced by family, tradition, religion, and nationality."
The third person that I asked was my college roommate for two years. She now teaches high school business in a city in Michigan. When asking her what her definition of diversity is, she stated: "diversity is different for others." Her definition for culture was: "thoughts and beliefs that are related to one's family."
It was very interesting to see what other individual's definition of culture and diversity was. I asked three teachers the two questions and every definition was different. The aspect of culture and diversity that is focused on in every definition is the relationship to, and beliefs of the different families. For example, different cultures have different beliefs and traditions. The main aspect that has been omitted was in relationship to family diversity. When people think culture, they automatically think grouping individuals into their culture group. It is important for outsiders to know that there is more to culture than grouping people within just their culture group. Being able to hear other individuals definition of culture and diversity, it allowed me to see how deep of a understanding individuals have in regards to culture and diversity.
Hi Chelsea, Thank you for sharing. After talking with my family and friends, I too gathered that culture and diversity has diverse definitions based on experiences, beliefs, and traditions from differing cultures or groups. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThis assignment has made me realize how much reflection and thought we have put into this in the last 3 weeks. Each of the people I asked was sort of blown away by the questions. They knew it was big and had trouble articulating their thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing,
Betsy
Chelsea, I think your comment about people automatically grouping individuals into their culture was very insightful-we think of those who are like us and "others". I also think it is interesting that no one in my group, family members included, mentioned anything about family-but I know that it is the core of culture. This was an interesting and informative exercise and I enjoyed reading the information that you got. Carolyn
ReplyDeleteI like your statement about grouping people together and not considering family diversity. I found everyone I talked to gave similar responses and kinds threw everyone into the same category. It really has been an eye opener seeing other peoples perspectives on the topic.
ReplyDeleteI agree that when we think of culture we need to not automatically group individuals into their culture. I know that for me, my culture is heavily based on my family traditions not so much based on others that are like me. I am Hispanic but my traditions are not the same as traditional Hispanic Culture but very different from it. Thanks
ReplyDeleteChelsea,
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right about not automatically grouping people because of their culture. Individuals may have similar cultures but may not believe the same things. That is a great eye opener because it is a mistake I feel many people make by assuming just because someone may be of similar culture their views may be totally different.
Chelsea,
ReplyDeleteMost people see culture as tied to race and diversity as differences in culture. However, I have learned that people are unique individuals. People in the same race or culture are diverse and different. As a result, children are diverse based on their skills and abilities.