This week I had to interview a couple people and ask them two questions:
What is your definition of culture?
What is your definition of diversity?
Here are their answers:
Cody: a white male in his
mid-twenties.
What is your
definition of culture:
The traditions and customs of a specific group of people.
What is your
definition of diversity:
A mix of several different cultures.
Lilliana, a Hispanic female in her early twenties:
What is my definition
of Culture?
My definition of culture is the common interests of people
within a community, such as a nation, a state, a race, religion ect.
What is your
definition of diversity?
My definition of diversity is the differences among a group
of people.
Chamois, a White female in her early thirties:
What is your
definition of culture:
A collection of practices and beliefs that unify a group of
people. Can be classified by ethnic identity but doesn’t have to be, there can
be subcultures like athletes.
What is your
definition of diversity:
A variety of different cultures which provides different
perspectives, and belief systems.
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 believe that Chamois’s answer about culture was extremely
close to what I’ve been learning through this course. She stated that it could
be identified by ethnic background but that it didn’t have to be. She also
mentioned sub-cultures.
Which aspects have
been omitted—and what are some examples of such omission?
I feel that the people I interviewed did a fairly good job
of describing diversity. I think this is especially true considering that fact
that none of them are in the education field.
In what ways has
thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and diversity influenced
my own thinking about these topics?
It was interesting hearing other people’s definitions of
culture and diversity. For the most part they were pretty similar. Because of
this course I have learned that culture is so much more than what you can see
on the outside or taste in cultural specific foods. Culture is deeply imbedded
in a person’s whole being, who they are, what they do, etc. Just because two
people of from the same cultural background doesn’t mean that they will share
the same belief systems, likes and dislikes, or family traditions.
The definitions that I recived from my family and friends all shadow my definitions of the words culture and diversity. One definition that I had was a deep revelation of how she felt about culture and diversity.
ReplyDeleteAngela,
ReplyDeleteI believe almost all of the people we interviewed have an idea on what culture and diversity means. I guess it is the same way as the teachers in the field of early childhood education, some may have a clear idea of defining culture and diversity while others have vague interpretations and probably some who does not have any clue. We are very fortunate to learn about culture and diversity and hopefully in the future everyone in our field will be trained to recognize, appreciate and embrace diversity including the acceptance of one's culture. Thank you for your post.
Angela,
ReplyDeleteI agree that all three definitions explain culture and diversity in an aspect. When working with young children or children in general, one tends to have a profound meaning and view on culture. Three people that I interviewed all relate to Early Childhood Education or Education in some way.