What is Culture and Diversity

I asked a question to the three individuals below; what is culture and diversity, here are their responses:

Male Friend

A set of important traditions and customs that is imbedded in a group of people is culture and diversity is a range of different views on life.

Co-worker

The things a person does to represent who they are and what they believe is culture and diversity describes the person, their beliefs and their culture.

Female Relative

The traditions or beliefs one is born into or embraces over time are culture and diversity is anything and everything one does.

I have learned so many things about culture and diversity. Culture is all around us; each person I encounter has somewhat of a different culture than I have. Some of us worship on Saturday, some of you go to church on Sunday, some people eat pork, and some do not. These are all aspects of our culture. In my responses to what is culture, all three of them answered the question according to what I have learned in this course, although their responses were worded differently from the words in the articles. They all had an understanding of what culture means. One of my participants answered, “The things a person does to represent who they are and what they believe is culture;” this is an example of culture and how it relates to all individuals. In a later discussion, this participant told me that believing in God, how she acts, and the things she does is all a part of her culture.

While discussing culture and diversity, two of my participants did not go beyond the surface of their understanding of culture and diversity. Their understanding of deep culture was not as present as it should have been. My female relative who answered both of the questions did go into deep culture. She expressed here concerns for education and how individuals from other cultures viewed education. This is an excerpt of part of the text message she sent to me

“The influence of culture on beliefs about education, the value of education, and participation styles cannot be overestimated. Many Asian students, for example, tend to be quiet in class, and making eye contact with teachers is considered inappropriate for many of these children (Bennett, 2003). In contrast, most European American children are taught to value active classroom discussion and to look teachers directly in the eye to show respect; while their teachers view students' participation as a sign of engagement and competence.”

This excerpt shows her understanding of culture and diversity and how it differs between cultures. This is a perfect example of deep culture and she has a great understanding of what it means.

Thinking about other people’s definitions of culture and diversity has influenced my own thinking about these topics because; it has challenged me to think critically about what these topics mean to me. Culture is something we all have and diversity is inevitable; if we learn about the deep cultures of others, then we will be able to educate others. We are all diverse and it is our duty to respect the diversity of others. Together we can all make a difference in the lives of others.

Lah-Lah