Saturday, September 20, 2014

Culture/ Diversity



After studying diversity in my course the similarities of culture that match my course were the fact that a culture can represent a group of people that are grouped together with a commonality.   

 Diversity was viewed as variety.  One person gave the example of the environment and how there are different plants and animals growing and thriving together.  I liked this example of diversity.  The diversity profile that was express by the group of people polled was similar in the fact that expressed how diversity was the willingness to accept people with different behaviors and beliefs.
The things that were omitted from the answers I received were the facts that deep culture was not represented in the answers.  One person answered that culture was a group of people that had the same ideas and thoughts.  This struck me as surface culture rather than deep culture.  Just because someone is part of a culture does not mean they have the same thoughts and ideas as someone else that is considered part of the same culture. 

After thinking about how others view culture and diversity it has influenced me to be cautious of the words I use to describe culture.  Culture is such a broad topic and in order to be diverse and accepting I need to be mindful of the words I use.  One feeling I have about diversity after completing this assignment is the fact that diversity is an attitude and a choice.  People who accepting of others are making the choice to do so and are conscious of the way they interact with others. Talking about diversity and keeping it at the forefront of your thoughts help you to be cautious of your own behavior.
 

3 comments:

  1. Tisha
    There is so much truth in what you said about describing culture, especially someone else' culture. It is indeed a broad topic and many times persons try to put the culture of others in a nut shell. I agree with you totally that we must be careful and sensitive about the way we describe culture.
    Diversity is another common word that we hear in almost every setting, therefore we have to know what diversity is and how to embrace all that it stands for in order to be fair and just to everyone. As professionals in the early childhood field, we must be versed on the topic of diversity and be always ready to cease an opportunity to learn more about,and to make the choice to be accepting of it. It is no secret that this nation is becoming more diverse every day.

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  2. Tisha,
    In my professional field I find myself being very cautious of the terminology I use especially when it comes to describing a family I'm working with. The wrong words can be very damaging and not only that families may think we are degrading just through our word choice. I like the fact that in your post you said just because someone is part of a culture does not mean they have the same ideas and thoughts of others within that culture. I know a family within the African-American culture who will not buy their daughters nothing but black dolls. I strongly disagree with this for the simple reason the real world is made up of more than just African-Americans. Enjoyed reading your post!

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  3. Tisha,
    I think the poster at the bottom of your post says it all. We are all unique expressions of the human spirit. Thanks for posting that .

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