Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

In meeting with some colleagues this week the topic of discussion was cultural diversity and each person had a different way in how they defined cultural diversity. I had a conversation with three wonderful people about cultural diversity.

Person 1. She is a K-5 teacher and has been teaching for three years. She believes that culture is the way people have been raised to live by their family. She believes that diversity is a group based on differences of race, gender, sexual orientation, social class and disability.
Person 2:  She is in a Head Start Program who has been a teacher for two years.  She believes that cultural diversity is the inclusion of diverse people in a group or organization that embrace cultural diversity in the workplace or school area with different types of culture of people.
Person 3:  She is a Head Start Center Director for over three years. She believe that cultural diversity is a gender roles that shaped our culture’s ideals for masculine and feminine behavior in ways that have been modified but not radically changed since the early years of time.

What was interesting to me is that each person had their way of how they viewed cultural diversity. When I talked to person 1 once she told me she believes that diversity is a group based on differences of race, gender, sexual orientation, social class and disability. Now I had to ask her how disability went with cultural diversity. She told me because some disabilities are passed out among the community to be involved in helping different cultures seek help for people with disabilities. That is seen in the same light as equality for other minority communities where social structures such as prejudice, segregation, inaccessibility and cultural/religious beliefs are the problems.

In reflecting on my conversations with the three people about culture and diversity I have learned that still people defines cultural diversity totally different. I also learned that people have their own why in how they understand cultural meaning to the best of their own knowledge. I see I need to learn more about cultural diversity but I find that this was very interesting doing because so far what I have learn that everyone has their own social identity in what they believe in .

My Family Culture

Scenario:

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.

Respond to all of the following:

• A description of the three items you would choose 
• I would take a photo album of my family (either old fashioned album or electronic), A cookbook with traditional recipes of my culture and ones I hold dear from my family, and my grandmother's ring that was passed down.
• How you would explain to others what each of these items means to you 
• I would utilize the cookbook to prepare dishes that represent where I come from, photos to show my family and to teach others of where I come from, and the ring simply represents love, passion, endurance, of the life my grandmother and mother both lived. 
• Your feelings if, upon arrival, you were told that you could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items you brought with you 
• I would absolutely be devastated, but would hold on to the ring.  This ring represents over 2 generations of woman and my history of where I come from.  The cookbook and photo album are simply material items that remind us of past experiences, interactions, and memories.
• Any insights you gained about yourself, your family culture, diversity, and/or cultural differences in general, as a result of this exercise.
• I found it interesting that I am emotionally connected to a ring rather than a photo album or cookbook.  I hold memories of cooking and family members dear to my heart, but the ring represents so much more of my life.... It represents several of my social identities that I have acquired throughout my life.