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
