Saturday, November 19, 2011

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

I wanted to get responses on the questions of culture and diversity from a range of friends and family members.  To say the least these responses came from a diverse (no pun intended) group of people.

 


Lauren Higgins
Lauren Higgins
Dr. Safisha Hill
       
                                                                                                         
Libba Murphey
Libba Murphy
       
                                                                      


The first person I asked for their definition of culture and diversity was my friend who is a professor of Black Studies at a local community college, Dr. Safisha Hill, she is 49 years old.  Her responses were, "Culture is how a people live, such as their traditions, religion, family values, even their way of dress.  It is the way they eat, interact with others and their way of life.  I am African-spiritual and it is reflected in how I live, the way I choose to wear my hair, the manner in which I worship, pray, meditate and the way I eat."  "Diversity suggests a mixture of cultures and more importantly, respecting other cultures, even if you don't accept or totally understand their traditions or way of life".






                                                                                                                   

The next person, I asked was my daughter, Lauren Higgins, a Walden University grad student studying Public Administration with a specialization in Non-Profit.  She is 25 years old.  "Culture is the way you live your life.  It includes customs, food, religion and experiences."  "Diversity is differences, mixtures and how they enhance your life."





                                                                   

The last person I posed these questions to was a friend and former co-worker, Libba Murphy, a proud, card carrying Atheist.  She is 65 years old. Culture is your way of life.  It includes traditions, celebrations, how death is mourned, how babies are welcomed into the family, just how things are done.



                                          

Diversity is the acknowledgement of differences.  Embracing diversity and allowing it in your life enhances how you experience the world.  The more you open yourself to diversity the more well rounded you are.






I chose this diverse group to see if their answers would be similar or different from what we have been learning.  I included information about them to demonstrate that diverse groups can have like thinking and be generationally different.  Their educational levels and beliefs are not the same however, their views of both culture and diversity are in line with what we've been studying regarding the subjects.

References

Dearman-Sparks, L. & Edwards, J.O. (2010).  Anti-Bias Education for Young Children
      and Ourselves  (2010) Washington, DC:  National Association for the Education of
      Young Children (NAEYC)

Gonzales-Mena, J.  Culture and Diversity [Video](2010) Laureate Education, Inc. 

1 comment:

  1. Stephanie,

    Thank you from sharing the responses from such a diverse group. It is good to hear the similarities in the response which align with what we are learning. I too have a diverse group of friends and associates, however only received a few responses. It was disappointing not to get more cooperation.

    Meredith

    ReplyDelete